A TEACHER has been struck off after getting drunk at a band camp and climbing into the bed of a male pupil.
Steven Watt admitted to teaching watchdogs today that he also stroked the same pupil’s arm during an incident at the camp in October 2011.
The 41-year-old music teacher admitted six charges at a General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) hearing, including being intoxicated whilst caring for and being in control of a group of children.
Mr Watt also admitted asking pupil if he was “camp” and then advising him that it was “okay to be gay these days.”
The former teacher further admitted to stroking the arm and then entering the bed of the student.
Mr Watt also drove off from the band camp the following morning while still intoxicated.
The charges said he “[suggested] to a number of male pupils in a dormitory that [he was] conducting a survey.”
The charges said he told a pupil, named only as Pupil A, “that it was okay to be gay these days.”
He also asked the pupil if he was “camp,” the charges said, and afterwards entered the pupil’s bed.
Parts of the hearing were held in private in order to protect the identity of the children involved.
The teacher’s school was not publicly revealed but the incident happened while he was employed by Angus Council.
The camp was made up of 70 senior pupils from different schools in the area, and eight staff were also in attendance.
Attention was brought to the behaviour of Mr Watt after pupils complained to senior staff at the band camp.
Mr Watt said he was “devastated” by what has happened and expressed his desire to teach again.
He told the hearing in Edinburgh: “I am devastated by what’s happened.
“I love teaching so much. I feel I have been a great teacher for 17 years.
“I just want to get back to school even if its supply work while there are other adults in the room.
“Music is my life and I feel I’ve got so much more to give.
“I’ll never drink again.”
The GTCS hearing in Edinburgh struck Mr Watt from the teacher’s register, and told him a period of two years would have to pass before he could apply to re-register with the council.
The panel, chaired by David Brunton, also suggested that Mr Watt’s name should be referred under the Protection of Vulnerable Groups
(Scotland) Act 2007.
