A Scottish teacher has been banned from her profession for two years after she told pupils Jesus was gay, along with other incidents of offensive and racist language.
Donna Gilchrist was reported back in 2018 when working at Beath High in Cowdenbeath.
A panel of the General Teaching Council for Scotland heard how she’d mocked a dyslexic pupil, showed inappropriate videos to classes and used the ‘n’ word in discussions.
One pupil has evidence in which he recalled being “sad” after hearing her describe Jesus as being “fat, black or gay”. He said her language would later encourage others to make fun of his Christian beliefs.
The panel found that Ms Gilchrist’s conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of a teacher.
In it’s ruling, it said: “All of the above conduct, if repeated by the Teacher, could cause harm to pupils. The panel decided that action needed to be taken in order to protect members of the public, both in terms of the teaching setting and beyond.”
Ms Gilchrist has to wait two years until she can teach again, a timeframe which the panel said “would give the teacher an opportunity to reflect on her conduct and demonstrate insight”.
She does have the right to appeal the decision.
