A PRIMARY teacher who visited gay porn sites while using his school’s internet network has been sacked.
Nicholas Grimshaw was caught looked up terms such as “very gay boys”, and colleagues also discovered similar searches and images on laptop computers issued to year six students.
IT specialists were brought in to St Michael’s School in Reading, Berks, after another teacher raised concerns in January 2014.
Police were alerted, and an investigation into the claims revealed Grimshaw had used his school’s Gmail address over 670 times to look at porn on a number of websites.
He also searched for specific headings between November 2010 and June 2014.
During a professional conduct hearing, the disgraced teacher, 34, claimed he was unaware he was logged onto the school’s private network while looking for the images.
Grimshaw was suspended from work in February 2014 after cops seized laptops and mobiles from his apartment.
He was dismissed from his post on April 30 2015, and banned from teaching indefinitely.
The 34-year-old was labelled “reckless” and “naïve” for failing to realise the implications of visiting gay porn sites on his school’s network during the hearing.
The report read: “On January 27, 2014, a concern was raised by a member of staff at the school about images found on school equipment belonging to Year 6 pupils.
“The school had concerns about its internet filter settings which allowed the images to be obtained and undertook an internal investigation with the assistance of its IT provider.
“The school was subsequently made aware that, unrelated to the original concern raised, two web addresses ‘Gayteenvideos’ and ‘Gayboytubes’ had been accessed on school equipment repeatedly between November 2010 and January 2014.
“The school’s IT provider advised that the websites had been accessed remotely through the school’s network.
“According to the times that the websites were accessed and the nature of other non-contentious searches undertaken around the same time, the school suspected that it was Mr Grimshaw who was accessing these websites on the school’s network.”
Speaking at the hearing, Grimshaw said he carried the searches out while in the privacy of his own home, and on his own personal equipment.
The former teacher, who started working at St Michael’s in 2005, explained he was logged onto the school’s network by mistake.
Despite this, the report ruled: “He stated that there were no indications or warnings that he was still logged into the system when he undertook the searches or accessed the websites.
“The panel has found however that Mr Grimshaw was naïve and reckless as to whether he was still logged into the school network when accessing the websites and undertaking the searches.
“The panel is satisfied that the conduct of Mr Grimshaw fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. Mr Grimshaw accessed pornography through the school network, on repeated occasions over a significant period of time.
“Mr Grimshaw knew, or ought to have known, that this was in breach of the school’s IT policy.
“Mr Grimshaw was responsible for ensuring he understood the school’s IT policy and how to correctly use remote access, even if no training was given on the policy or no active discussions took place on the policy.
“The panel accepts Mr Grimshaw’s oral evidence that he was not aware that he was still logged into the school’s network but the panel found Mr Grimshaw had been naïve and reckless in this respect and this did not excuse his actions.”
The panel addressed the police report’s finding that Grimshaw admitted visiting a website with a disclaimer that everyone featured was over 18 years of age.
However, the same site also permitted users to share their own images, making it near impossible to verify ages.