Ex-Ascot private school teacher banned from profession after child sex offences

A former head of year at an Ascot private boarding school has been banned from the teaching profession after she was convicted of sexual activity with a child.

Beverley Dunnage, who worked at St George’s School for girls, was arrested over the offences in 2024 and handed a more than four-year prison sentence at court.

The 52-year-old committed the offences away from the school, but a report which outlined the decision to ban her said she showed a ‘lack of full insight’ over the harms her actions had caused, which ‘puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils’.

Industry watchdog the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said Dunnage’s behaviour had been ‘counter to what should have been at the very core of her practice as a teacher’.

St George’s, which counts royal Princess Beatrice among its alumni, schools girls aged from 11 to 18 and charges up to £56,000 in annual boarding fees.

Dunnage started work at the school as a head of year eight and upper sixth form boarding housemistress in January 2023.

But she was dismissed a year and a half later, following her arrest by Avon and Somerset Police on suspicion of sexual activities with a boy in 2024.

The TRA heard evidence that Dunnage had been drinking alcohol with a boy when she ‘incited’ him to engage in sexual activity with her in May that year.

Dunnage was handed a 49-month prison sentence after she was convicted on two counts of sexual activity with a child at Taunton Crown Court on July 25, 2024.

The TRA report said the school was informed of her arrest on June 3 and her employment there was ‘terminated’ on July 12.

Dunnage admitted the offences, the report said, and had ‘accepted that her conduct amounted to a conviction’.

She had also ‘accepted’ she would ‘never be able to teach again’ due to her offending, the TRA said about a handwritten letter from Dunnage used in its evidence.

A recommendation to sanction Dunnage with an indefinite teaching ban was made by a TRA panel, and made by Stuart Blomfield on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.

The report said: “Although the offence occurred outside of a school setting, Ms Dunnage’s actions were relevant to teaching, working with children and/or working in an education setting…

“Her conduct ran counter to what should have been at the very core of her practice as a teacher with a duty of care towards children.”

The TRA report said: “The severity of Ms Dunnage’s conduct and the impact that this continued to have on the victim was a significant factor in forming that opinion.

“Accordingly, the panel made a recommendation to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order should be imposed with immediate effect.”

Mr Blomfield said: “In my judgement, the lack of full insight means that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils.

"I have therefore given this element considerable weight in reaching my decision [to ban Dunnage].”

A spokesperson for St George’s School said: “Ms Dunnage no longer works at the school and we have no comment other than to note that the matter has no connection to the school or its pupils.”