Northamptonshire teacher banned over sexual photos art project

Emma Wright had "not fully reflected on the safeguarding implications of allowing pupils to take photographs of themselves or others in a state of undress"

An art teacher who allowed pupils under the age of 16 to take photos of a sexual nature for a project has been banned from teaching.

Emma Wright, 41, who taught at a Northamptonshire school, allowed her Year 11 pupils to take partially naked photos of themselves and others.

Pictures of children wearing only underwear and holding alcohol or using hands to cover breasts were depicted.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said she had broken safeguarding rules.

Ms Wright was referred to the TRA by the school in 2018, after the portfolio of pupils' work was discovered by the head of the art and design department.

She told the panel that while she had introduced the pupils to an artist who created "suggestive pictures", she had not meant for her pupils to create similar.

'Safeguarding implications'

But the panel determined that she would have seen the material collected by students before their final artwork was produced.

The panel found the pictures of the youngsters, some of whom were under 16 when the photographs were taken, were a safeguarding concern and as such "were highly inappropriate".

The TRA concluded that Ms Wright's actions had been deliberate and that she had committed a serious breach of professional teaching standards, as well as failing to safeguard pupils' well-being.

She was an experienced teacher who had been at the school since 2004 and "was of previous good history".

The TRA said: "Whilst the panel was satisfied that there was a low risk of repetition, it did not find that Ms Wright had fully reflected on the safeguarding implications of allowing pupils to take photographs of themselves or others in a state of undress."

She has been banned from teaching indefinitely in England and cannot apply for a review of the ban until 2024.