Teacher Banned Indefinitely After Declaring Love to Pupil at £30k Boarding School
A teacher at a prestigious £30,000-a-year boarding school has been handed an indefinite prohibition order after a professional conduct panel found he repeatedly declared his love to a pupil and engaged in inappropriate communications.
Benjamin Phelps, 31, worked as a deputy boarding housemaster, tutor, and performing arts technician at St Bede’s School's senior school in East Sussex, which caters to students aged 13 to 18. The Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard that his actions breached teaching standards and amounted to serious misconduct.
Inappropriate Messages and Personal Meetings
The misconduct came to light through a series of messages sent between November 2023 and January 2024. Phelps used the school's main digital communication system and later WhatsApp, which was not approved by the school, to contact the pupil.
In one WhatsApp message, he wrote: "I hope you’ve had a good night, I’m falling asleep with my phone in my hand. I love you and wish you sweet dream!! Contact me about anything xxxxxx". Another message stated: "A hot feeling went through me, from front to back, I shook slightly (bit weird but true), then I had this warm glow and I can’t stop staring at it. I feel love, like pure love at a level I’m not sure I’ve felt before."
He also told the student: "Love you more every day. My heart fluttered every time you caught my eye x also, I love the hearts!" On one occasion, Phelps penned heart symbols on a napkin with the message: "Just to say.. I (heart symbol) with all my (heart symbol), xxxx, missed you today".
Escalation of Personal Relationship
The panel detailed how the relationship became increasingly personal. Phelps and the pupil met outside of lessons, exchanged photographs, and he asked the student to skip school to "eat in the car" together. Messages included phrases like "you have such a beautiful mind though, it’s so pure and genuine" and "maybe delete this chat too in case they look through your phone".
In November 2023, the student disclosed a matter to Phelps that should have triggered safeguarding procedures, but he failed to report it. The situation escalated in February 2024 when the pupil attempted to kiss Phelps. Although he did not reciprocate and tried to return the relationship to a professional footing, he did not report the incident and admitted there had been kisses on the cheek.
Panel Findings and Consequences
The panel concluded that Phelps's actions, both individually and cumulatively, represented significant breaches of professional boundaries and demonstrated that the relationship had become personal and romanticised by February 2024. However, an allegation of pursuing a course of conduct akin to grooming was not proved.
Phelps was fired in April 2024 following an internal investigation. In January 2026, he was banned from teaching indefinitely. The prohibition order prevents him from teaching in any school, sixth-form college, relevant youth accommodation, or children’s home in England.
He can apply to have the order set aside, but not until January 2030, and retains the right to appeal to the High Court. The panel noted that Phelps conceded he had probably been flattered by the attention and that some messages indicated he had developed romantic feelings.
