Teacher kicked out of school

Anne Caldwell developed relationships with two girls. Photo / Herald on Sunday

A woman stripped of her teaching licence after inappropriate relationships with two female students has admitted abusing a position of trust.

Anne Caldwell was deregistered by the Teachers Council in February, for serious misconduct while working at troubled Fairfield College in Hamilton.

According to the decision, the 40-year-old former computer teacher singled out one girl for special meetings and encouraged her to lie to her parents. She received a warning after management discovered the relationship but continued a secret infatuation with a second student.

The decision said Caldwell:

- Told the second girl she loved her and could not live without her;

- Bombarded her with inappropriate texts over a sustained period;

- Sent messages to her page on the Bebo social networking site;

- Resisted attempts by the student to end the friendship.

The offending came to light when the student complained to another teacher, who referred the girl to principal Julie Small.

Caldwell said she would never forget the day Small marched her out of class and told her to go home because she needed to protect student welfare.

Initially she took leave but then resigned: "I knew [Small] was never going to let me back into the school."

The Teachers Council was particularly concerned about the second student, who throughout an interview with her principal, "was upset, shaking and struggling to describe just how bad reporting the contact made her feel".

Caldwell said she was sad about losing her career but now felt deregistration was "something I deserved".

"My teaching is done and dusted. It was a fair decision and there are more appropriate jobs out there for me."

The Herald on Sunday has decided not to reveal the girls' ages, or the dates of the offending, to protect their identities.

Caldwell, who has a psychology degree, said she wanted to help the students but ended up falling in love with the second girl. She maintains she was just friends with the other.

She said she had no professional boundaries, abused a position of trust and was too emotionally immature for the classroom.

After spending most of her adult life studying at university and little time in the workplace, Caldwell said she had not "grown up" and called for all would-be teachers to be psychologically tested.

"People who are not emotionally mature often think like teenagers, think that they're invincible and nothing bad is going to happen."

Caldwell, who was ordered to pay $2000 costs, said she found it "easy to fall for students".

She apologised to the two students, their parents and the school for putting them through an "emotionally challenging situation" but denied she was a "predator".

And she warned other teachers not to text or email students because the technology enabled potentially inappropriate "private relationships".

Now labouring for $15 an hour, the former Taranaki woman says the council's decision forced her to re-evaluate her life.

"I've grown up tremendously. It has been a huge wake-up call.

"It was a huge enough event in my life to make me seriously look at my behaviour. I now have better boundaries."

Small said the Teachers' Council's decision was "appropriate". The school had been through an unpleasant ordeal but had dealt with the matter swiftly "to protect the young people concerned".

Its cyber policy had been reviewed and strengthened and teachers had been reminded about boundaries.

The council dealt with seven teachers for inappropriate relationships in 2008. Five were deregistered and two suspended.