Banned Christian head teacher tells court that ruling infringed his freedom of religion

May 2, 2024 by Jill

by James Reynolds, Daily Mail:

Joshua Sutcliffe was banned by the Teaching Regulation Authority last May.

A Christian headteacher who was banned from teaching for ‘misgendering’ a pupil who identified as male had his rights to freedom of speech and religion infringed upon by the ban, the High Court has heard.

Joshua Sutcliffe is pursuing an appeal against a May 2023 prohibition order issued after he was found guilty of ‘unacceptable professional conduct’ while working at The Cherwell School in Oxford between 2015 and 2018.

At a hearing in London today, Mr Sutcliffe’s lawyers argued the decision to ban him, which may be reviewed after two years, featured an ‘unjustified interference’, was ‘unsafe’ and included ‘perverse’ findings.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel concluded last year that he did not treat a transgender student with ‘dignity and respect’ by failing to use their ‘preferred pronoun’ in class and while appearing on ITV‘s This Morning.

It also found Mr Sutcliffe failed to safeguard pupils’ wellbeing when saying God had stopped a person from being gay because it was wrong, and deemed him ‘unprofessional’ for sharing his religious beliefs in class.

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