Yorkshire teacher banned for making 'sexually provocative' comments to pupils

Nigel Rix was sacked by Southway Centre in Leeds in April 2020 following an investigation into concerns raised by several pupils.

A Teaching Regulation Agency misconduct panel reviewed the case and found the 54-year-old had made a number of inappropriate sexual comments at the pupil referral unit, which was set up to help children who struggle in mainstream education.

The science teacher asked one group of pupils to “get your golden vaginas out”, mimicked crude sexual acts and asked another group of girls if a dancer had “greasy nipples”.

The panel ruled that Rix was guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct and should be banned from teaching indefinitely.

“There was clearly no sexual gratification from his behaviour nor had he tried to form sexual relationships with pupils,” the panel added.

“He did not always have control of his class and that he would often have the micky taken out of him by pupils.

“The panel considered that a lot of his behaviour was inappropriate but was also a way of him trying to have control and leadership of the pupils despite this being severely misguided.”

During one lesson, he turned to three pupils and said: “Right girls, do you want to get your golden vaginas out?”.

Rix said he made the inappropriate comment because a girl became embarrassed when she mixed up her words while talking about tobacco and said “golden vagina” instead of “Golden Virginia”. He said he wanted to “make light” of the situation.

During another lesson in January 2020, a group of pupils asked him whether he knew who Sticky Vicky was and he replied: “Does she have greasy nipples?”

The teacher said he thought the girls had asked him about ‘Sweaty Betty’, a song by The Macc Lads which features the lyrics: “She’s got greasy nips and works on a sewage farm”.

A week later, Rix realised a pupil was copying his hand movements so he pretended to rub his chest and mimicked another sexual act.

The teacher said his “silly gestures” were part of a “misguided attempt” to get the pupil to stop copying him and he “realised he had gone too far” when he put a clenched fist to his mouth.

In another science class, Rix said he “would do it with a horse” when a disruptive pupil was asking a classmate if he would sex with animals.

The teacher said he made the comment to “diffuse” the situation and move the discussion onto artificial insemination of horses so he could “talk about the topic in a science related way”.

The panel’s ruling stated: “Mr Rix fully accepted that this was not the best way of diffusing the situation, however at the time his entire focus was on preventing a violent outburst and to restore order to the situation.

“Despite Mr Rix’s misjudged comments, the situation did diffuse without further aggression or violence between the two pupils.”