Perth teacher who dubbed student 'ponytail princess' has registration cancelled

students sitting at desks write on pieces of paper.

A Perth private school teacher has had his registration cancelled after admitting to serious misconduct in his dealings with a student in his care.

The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) had been investigating the 55-year-old after his school received a complaint from a parent in March this year.

It was alleged the teacher had been giving preferential treatment to a 15-year-old female student in his pastoral care group.

The behaviour included routinely giving the teenager money for lunch, and discussing his wife's breast cancer treatment plan with the girl.

He also emailed the Year 10 student from his private email address on Valentine's Day this year, purportedly to check on the girl who he had seen crying outside the classroom the day before.

The teacher was not working at the school on the day he emailed the girl.

The SAT also heard the teacher went to the girl's workplace in early March, where he gave her a card containing $20, a hand-written note including his phone number, and referred to the girl as "the ponytail princess".

The girl showed the note to her stepmother, who contacted the school days later.

The teacher was dismissed late in March, but contacted another student on Facebook in April with the intent to see any comments made by the 15-year-old girl or about her.

In his submission to the SAT, the 55-year-old acknowledged his behaviour had been inappropriate for his role, but said he was not aware of the girl's discomfort with his actions.

"I would not have confided in her regarding my wife's illness, nor given her a thank you card, if I had knowledge of her discomfort," he said.

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