A SUPPLY teacher has been banned from the classroom after using a gay social network application on school premises and claiming to be attracted to young boys.

Aaron Goodwin, 29, was working at Cardinal Hume School, Gateshead, when he accessed Grindr to get in touch with other men.

A disciplinary panel verdict published today (Friday, February 17) concluded he also used Skype outside work to say he had carried out a sex act on school premises - an allegation he denied.

Goodwin was found guilty of unacceptable conduct and banned from teaching.

The report said: “The panel’s findings against Mr Goodwin included use of a social media dating application on school premises, engagement in online conversations of a sexually explicit nature involving reference to illegal sexual activity with minors, and a sexual interest in pupils.

“Therefore, there is a strong public interest consideration in protecting members of the public including pupils.

“The panel considers that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Mr Goodwin were not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.”

The National College of Teaching and Leadership hearing was told Mr Goodwin admitted accessing Grindr in 2014 to check messages, which was in breach of the school's social media policies.

The panel found Goodwin conducted a conversation with a male on Skype in May 2013 in which he revealed he was a teacher, said he was attracted to boys in their early teens and carried out an indecent act on himself at work.

Fifteen months later, he contacted a different person and requested they resend a number of explicit videos involving underage boys.

Goodwin, a teacher since 2008, denied responsibility and blamed an individual he said had access to his flat and laptop between 2012 and 2014.

The panel ruled against him and described his actions as "calculated".

The report said: “Whilst there was no evidence of possession of indecent images, there was evidence that Mr Goodwin was interested in such images and sought to obtain them.

“Mr Goodwin has encouraged the distribution of illegal sexual content involving minors who inevitably would have been subject to harm by those involved in producing such content.

Mr Goodwin denied the allegations throughout the hearing and expressed no remorse or insight.”

An allegation he used Grindr to invite a member of the public to meet him in a toilet was unproven.

The indefinite teaching ban comes into force immediately and he has 28 days to appeal against the decision.