AN "exceptional" young PE teacher was sacked for sending four Facebook messages to sixth year pupils.
Nicholas Torsney is fighting for his career in front of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) as a result of breaching the profession's social media policy.
The treatment of the 27-year-old by West Lothian Council sparked unrest at his old school, St Margaret's Academy in Livingston, where almost 50 teachers put their names to a document protesting his sacking.
A teaching union said the case also showed the need for clearer guidance on the use of social media by members of staff.
The messages, two of which were signed "Xx", were sent to sixth year pupils, believed to be over 18, and two of them were sent after the students had completed their exams and effectively left school. The messages related to a prom night and golfing trip.
Mr Torsney, from Livingston, was sacked from St Margaret's as a result of the texts. After appealing, he was reinstated and given a job at another West Lothian school.
However, the case is now being pursued by the GTCS, which could strike Mr Torsney off if the case against him is found proved.
Mr Torsney told a hearing in Edinburgh that he believed the students had left school and, therefore, the ban on social media contact did not apply. He said he did not realise that the GTCS rules apply until the final day of term.
He said: "I am massively remorseful and completely devastated at my mistake. I no longer use any form of social media and I have taken classes on child protection to ensure that I will never come close to repeating the mistake."
Karen Rafferty, 46, who worked alongside Mr Torsney at St Margaret's Academy, told the hearing: "It was blown out of proportion. He was a great teacher and always maintained professional boundaries with the pupils."
Lawyer Alastair Milne, defending the teacher, said: "Mr Torsney is an excellent teacher who has gone beyond what is expected of him in helping his students.
"We are not dealing with someone who is unfit to teach, the evidence shows that his daily contact shows no sign of inappropriate behaviour."
But Gillian Sim, case presenter for the GTCS, said: "Fitness to teach isn't simply about being able to teach well. It's about maintaining professional standards and fulfilling your duty as a role model."
A spokesman for the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association said: "Social media is a very dangerous place for a teacher and we have real concerns about it.
"More needs to be done to set out guidance for what teachers can and cannot do on social media."
The GTCS and West Lothian Council said they would not comment on individual cases.
The hearing continues.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article