Teacher suspended after pupil 'saw him having sex - 10th Jan 2009 6:42pm
Teacher suspended after pupil 'saw him having sex with temp in school changing room'
A teacher has been suspended after a pupil allegedly spotted him having sex with a colleague in a school changing room.
Robert Grealish, a PE teacher, was put on gardening leave after a year eight pupil told his parents that he saw Mr Grealish with a temporary teacher when he peered through a window.
The pupil at St Joseph's College Catholic School in Norwood, South London, is believed to be only 13.
A fellow teacher confirmed that the pupil's parents had phoned headmaster Eamon Connolly to complain about the alleged incident in early December.
He said: 'He was peering through the window and says he saw everything. It was the last lesson of the day.
'The pupil was grilled by the headmaster who didn't believe him to start with because the teacher concerned denied it originally. He tried to back him down but realised there could be something in it.'
Mr Grealish, who is 29 and unmarried, was suspended on December 15, five days before the school broke up for Christmas.
Mr Connolly said: 'There is a member of staff who is currently suspended and the matter is being dealt with under the disciplinary procedures.
'Ultimately this puts the teacher at risk of dismissal. The other teacher said to be involved is no longer here.'
Mr Grealish's father Thomas said that his son was 'OK' but did not want to make any comments about the allegation.
Speaking from his home in Southwark, South London, Mr Grealish senior said: 'To the best of my knowledge my son is OK, but he has nothing to say on the matter at this time.'
A source at the school said: 'This is a Catholic school and as such we have a code of practice not to bring the Catholic reputation of the school into disrepute.
'A teacher having sex with another teacher while the school is full of pupils is not the kind of image we want to portray and if he is guilty of it I'm afraid Robert will have to go.
'You cannot go about having sex in front of pupils. God only knows what he was thinking.'
He added: 'Robert is an established teacher here. How on earth can he get his job back if it's proven he had sex during a school day?'
According to the school's prospectus, it 'provides an ethos grounded in the teaching of the Catholic Church'.
But the 150-year-old voluntarily aided school has hit the headlines before when deputy headmaster Peter Cook had to apologise over nude photos of him and another teacher which were being handed round by pupils.
A male pupil had found the snaps of the 38-year-old father of two and 39-year-old Kiran Sohanpaul, a substitute teacher, after being lent her phone to listen to a song.
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