A supply teacher has been banned from the profession after watching pornography on school IT equipment during the day.

Samuel Kin On Wong started working as a supply teacher at John Colet School in Wendover on October 1, 2020 – but just five days later, he accessed adult porn using the school’s IT software during his ‘planning, preparation and assessment’ time.

Mr Wong, 60, had been hired by Simply Education Ltd – an agency that provides both supply and permanent teaching jobs for schools - in 2009.

The streaming of the explicit video was detected by the Wharf Road secondary school’s ‘eSafe’ software system and he was removed from his booking with the school the next day, October 7, 2020.

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Simply Education Ltd started an investigation and stopped offering him work from October 26, 2020.

They also referred the incident to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which probes allegations of serious misconduct, on November 12, 2020.

During the investigation, Mr Wong fully admitted to accessing porn using the school’s IT equipment.

A TRA conduct panel hearing determined that Mr Wong’s conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession” and he was banned from teaching.

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The panel said: “Whilst the panel had regard to the fact that no pupils were present at the time of the incident, the panel did consider that as a teacher Mr Wong was likely to be viewed as a role model by pupils.

“The panel believed Mr Wong’s behaviour would undoubtedly damage the public’s perception of the teaching profession and there were public interest factors to consider.”

The panel also said that while evidence suggested Mr Wong had apologised for his behaviour, they could not assess his “level of remorse, regret, or insight into his behaviour”, leading to fears a similar incident could happen again.

They decided to ban Mr Wong from teaching indefinitely, with a review period of five years, meaning he cannot apply for the prohibition order to be “set aside” until December 15, 2026, at the earliest.

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A statement from John Colet School to the Bucks Free Press read: “The school’s screening software identified an inappropriate use of the IT network after students had left the site.

“Mr Harty, head teacher, met with Mr Wong to discuss the incident and, as a result, his engagement as a supply teacher was terminated immediately.

“The school welcomes the panel’s decision and agrees that ‘teachers must have proper and professional regard for the ethos, policies and practices of the school in which they teach’.”