Former Northampton primary school teacher banned after sending sexual message to teenage boy
A former primary school teacher from Northampton has been banned from the profession after sending a sexual message to a boy she believed was 16.
Mrs Sarah Aldridge, who previously worked at Abington Vale Primary School, faced a series of allegations relating to inappropriate online contact with children in 2016. She was accused of contacting teenage boys while posing as a 17-year-old girl and engaging in sexualised conversations.
A Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard that allegations messages linked to the case included inappropriate communication directed at boys aged 15 and 16.
Concerns about the alleged behaviour first emerged in 2018, when reports were made that a teacher had been “sexting, grooming and inciting 16-year-old boys into sexual acts.” Police investigated the claims but took no further action.
A notice of proceedings issued in July 2024 set out multiple allegations, including that Aldridge sent sexual messages and images to children and misrepresented her age. It was also alleged that her conduct was ‘dishonest, lacked integrity, and was sexually motivated’. Aldridge denied the allegations.
The panel found there was insufficient evidence to prove most of the claims, including those relating to the sending of images. However, one allegation was upheld.
Aldridge admitted sending a message of a sexual nature to an individual she believed to be 16 years old. The panel said the message “related to whether the recipient had had sex” and was “inherently sexual in nature”.
She claimed she had been coerced into sending the message by a man who was “threatening and harassing” her, and said she acted under “extreme duress”. The panel rejected this account, concluding there was not enough evidence to support her claim.
In its findings recently published, the panel said: “An experienced female teacher had sent a message to someone they believed to be a 16-year-old boy to enquire as to whether they had had sex.” It added that the language used “indicated sexual motivation”.
The panel described her actions as “serious and significant misconduct” and recommended a prohibition order. The ban was subsequently confirmed on behalf of the Secretary of State.
Aldridge, now aged 49, is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot work in any school or similar setting in England. She may apply for the ban to be reviewed after two years.
Click here to read the report in full.
A Northampton Primary Academy Trust spokeswoman said: “We have been supporting this case for eight years through to this final conclusion. As a trust we have, and always will, ensure safeguarding issues are dealt with in a rigorous and robust way, strictly following trust and national policy and guidance. In the summer holidays of 2018 the police raised a safeguarding allegation against this employee and, as the TRA report outlined, she was ‘suspended from her position at the school pending an investigation into the allegations’. We have been involved in a number of external processes since this time culminating in the report that has been released this week, bringing closure to this long and complex case. This final outcome demonstrates that NPAT schools uphold the trust values in ensuring that all actions and decisions hold safety and safeguarding of children in the highest regard at all times.”