A former English teacher at a public school in Kent who touched pupils’ legs and instructed them to sing inappropriate song lyrics to him has blamed his Italian heritage on making him “tactile”, a panel heard.
James Coltella had instructed students at Tonbridge School to sing sections of the song ‘Marvin Gaye’ by Charlie Puth, with lyrics including “”king size to ourselves” and “it’s a Karma Sutra show and tell”.
In a witness statement, one of the pupils said that Mr Coltella would “walk up and down the line, searching for eye contact”.
A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) professional conduct panel heard that Mr Coltella had also touched two pupils on their shoulders, knees and legs during one-to-one meetings.
Pupil A recalled that the “touching my knee would also happen when he would laugh and I also recall that the teacher would touch my knee like my grandmother would as he would have his hand on me and would rub his thumb to comfort me, like someone would do if you were crying.”
The pupil also said that Mr Coltella asked for a hug several times, which led them to eventually avoid the teacher.
He was referred to the TRA following a complaint in relation to Pupil A in November 2021.
Documents from the hearing concluded: “The panel considered that Mr Coltella’s actions were serious given the negative impact on Pupil A and Pupil B. In his dogged determination to achieve academic success for them, his methodologies were open to misinterpretation and he failed to safeguard their welfare.”
It found that nine of the 25 allegations were proven, and found that his behaviour mounted to serious misconduct.
There was however a number of positive character references from teachers, parents and pupils, which referred to him as “outstanding” and “inspirational”.
In a statement to the panel, Mr Coltella said: “My Italian heritage and upbringing fostered a demonstrative manner; however, the need to think about how your actions are received by others has now been acutely understood.
“I have learnt many lessons from this terrible situation and only ever wanted the best for others. There was never any malicious intent and I am deeply sorry for any emotional harm I may have caused.”
He also stated that it is “appreciable that errors were made on my part” and referred to his “remorse for any emotional harm I may have unintentionally caused: .
The panel found that Mr Coltella fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession, but ruled not to ban him from the profession.
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