The head teacher at a top Wycombe school says she is “appalled” by the behaviour of a former teacher who has been banned from the profession for life after engaging in sex acts with an ex-pupil.

Rhiannon Wilkinson, head teacher at the prestigious Wycombe Abbey School, has spoken out following the revelation that Matthew McGowan, 38, a former drama teacher at the school, had a “very physical” relationship with a pupil.

Mrs Wilkinson said: “At Wycombe Abbey, our primary concern is for the safeguarding, care and welfare of all our pupils. We are appalled by the totally unacceptable conduct of a former member of our teaching staff and have apologised to the young woman concerned, to whom we owed a duty of care. We have thanked the family for coming forward in July 2016 and have been as open about this incident as possible with other pupils and parents.”

She added that as soon as concerns were raised by the parent of the pupil, the relevant authorities, including the police, were informed, while they also carried out their own disciplinary investigation.

An independent external safeguarding review into the school’s practices also found some “failures” in their response to concerns about the teacher when they were initially raised in the academic year 2012/13.

Mrs Wilkinson added: “It also noted that a number of significant improvements and more robust safeguarding arrangements had since been introduced. We will, of course, continue to review our systems. We are fully committed to ensuring that an ever-stronger culture of safeguarding and pupil care remains at the heart of our school.

“The whole Wycombe Abbey staff body, feel very sad, appalled, and profoundly let down that a member of our teaching staff should have behaved in the manner which he did – and that his conduct was not identified and stopped at the time. We have apologised to the family who have suffered as a consequence.”