A grammar school teacher was sacked after looking at porn while teaching lessons, a disciplinary hearing has heard.
David Chidlow was fired from Maidstone Grammar School after an investigation found that he had looked at profiles of women on an adult pornographic website 74 times during school hours between February and March of last year.
The 59-year-old had been a business studies and economics teacher for A level and GCSE students at the school since September 2018.
Chidlow admitted to switching between a live lesson on Microsoft Teams and the unauthorised site repeatedly at a Teaching Regulation Agency virtual misconduct hearing.
He also engaged in "sex chats" and attempted to hide evidence by deleting his internet history.
In a written statement, Chidlow accepted "that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".
The panel was told that the school’s monitoring software had flagged up keywords “I take my life” being used on a staff member’s school device in February 2021.
That prompted an investigation to be launched, with school officials uncovering Chidlow's frequent visits to an escort service website where, the panel heard, he "was discussing his sexual interests and this included requesting photographs from the females which were saved onto the School’s laptop".
He was also recorded deleting the adult website from his internet history.
Chidlow admitted that he had been communicating with women on the website via email, as well as seeking images for the purpose of sexual gratification.
The school undertook remote monitoring of Chidlow's laptop without his prior knowledge, the hearing was told.
A formal disciplinary hearing took place in May 2021 and Chidlow was sacked for gross misconduct.
In its ruling, the panel found that the teacher “had demonstrated some insight into his actions” but did not believe that he “expressed remorse”, either for the school, his students, or the teaching profession.
It also ruled that Chidlow "could easily have inadvertently shared pornographic material with pupils".
After finding Chidlow guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct, the panel recommended to the Secretary of State that he should face a ban from teaching.
Sarah Buxcey, who made a decision regarding the issues on behalf of the Education Secretary, said that it would be “proportionate” to implement a ban.
She said: “In my view, it is necessary to impose a prohibition order to maintain public confidence in the profession.
“I am particularly mindful of the finding of dishonesty in this case and the impact that such a finding has on the reputation of the profession.
"In view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Chidlow shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach."
