This Week It Was Revealed How This Married Teacher Seduced a 16-Year-Old Boy in Her class.And Guess What, It's at the School Praised for Its Liberal Sex Education Policy That Was Hit by a Scandal over Teenage Pregnancies. Coincidence? You Decide; Abuse of Trust: Jo Gorman Is Now Banned from Working in Any School

Byline: Helen Weathers

FOR a school which prides itself on the high quality of its pastoralcare and commitment to the emotional, physical and sexual health of its pupils,it would be hard to imagine a more embarrassing scandal.

Award-winning Paignton Community College in Devon, lauded for its pioneeringsexual health advice service for students, has found its nemesis in the form ofits now disgraced English teacher, a 28-year-old married woman called JoGorman, herself once a star pupil at the college.

This week it emerged that Mrs Gorman had been sacked from the school followinga disciplinary hearing, having been suspended last November over the 'sexualtouching' of a 16-year-old male pupil for which she also received a policecaution.

Photos of the pair were seemingly taken on mobile phoneswhich reportedly rapidly spread after being sent to other pupils.

What a nightmare for the college which became the first school in the SouthWest to be singled out by the National Society for the Protection of Cruelty toChildren as a 'Listening School'a status only achieved once a designated standard has been reached relating tofour aspects of health education promoting the welfare of its pupils.

And what will the mandarins in the Department of Education think? For thecollege has been held up as a shining example to the rest of Britain after itset up its controversial Tic Tac centre, offering advice to students on allmanner of issues including sexual health.

Indeed, the college's own policy document on safeguarding children reads: 'Allstaff believe that our school should provide a caring, positive, safe andstimulating environment that promotes the social, physical and moraldevelopment of the individual child.' One member of staff, however, was clearlynot singing from the same songsheet. Indeed, Jo Gorman's actions, which …

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Publication information: Article title: This Week It Was Revealed How This Married Teacher Seduced a 16-Year-Old Boy in Her class.And Guess What, It's at the School Praised for Its Liberal Sex Education Policy That Was Hit by a Scandal over Teenage Pregnancies. Coincidence? You Decide; Abuse of Trust: Jo Gorman Is Now Banned from Working in Any School. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Mail (London). Publication date: January 12, 2008. Page number: 42. © 2007 Daily Mail. COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group.

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