Principal supports naming disgraced teacher

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Ashburton College's principal has welcomed the decision to deny name suppression for a former teacher who committed serious misconduct.

The Ashburton Guardian revealed yesterday that former Ashburton College teacher Michael Burrell-Smith, 25, was de-registered, censured and ordered to pay more than $3000 in costs after being found to have committed serious misconduct by the New Zealand Teachers' Disciplinary Tribunal.

The decision related to a series of events that took place while Mr Burrell-Smith was employed as a teacher at Ashburton College during 2013, where he formed inappropriate relationships with three students.

Ashburton College principal Grant McMillan told the Guardian yesterday the college welcomed the decisions of the tribunal, including the public naming of Mr Burrell-Smith.
"As with any school, the college's top priorities are the education, safety and wellbeing of our students at all times," Mr McMillan said.

"Although we received positive feedback about how we responded to and managed this, naturally we reviewed our processes and systems as a part of our response."

The Guardian understands the college did not apply to have its name suppressed, as doing so could have led to Mr Burrell-Smith also remaining anonymous.

Mr Burrell-Smith admitted committing serious misconduct, which included exchanging intimate text messages and phone calls with students, writing notes to a student with lists of romantic songs and drawings, and telling a student he wanted to hug her.

The college complained to the New Zealand Teachers' Council in July 2013 over Mr Burrell-Smith's behaviour.

Mr Burrell-Smith may apply for re-registration in the future, but would be required to demonstrate that he fully appreciated the seriousness of his actions and was no longer a risk to students.

- Ashburton Guardian