A Northland teacher has been deregistered after engaging in sexual banter with students, including talking about his genitals and pornography.
Samuel Roy Palmer, who is in his 30s, taught science and physics at Dargaville High School for about a year before resigning earlier this year after principal David Bargh confronted him with allegations of inappropriate language with students.
Mr Bargh referred the matter to the New Zealand Teachers' Disciplinary Tribunal's complaints assessment committee on July 6, and after Mr Palmer admitted the charge of serious misconduct, he was banned from teaching.
Mr Bargh said he was pleased with the decision to censure and deregister his former teacher and was happy that the school had procedures in place to pick up such activities.
"Every student has a number of adults they can talk to about issues of concern and they are all really aware of what is acceptable and what is not," he said.
"That's one of the reasons why this was discovered very early."
In its decision released this week the committee said Mr Palmer's classroom sexual "banter" was inappropriate. It said Mr Palmer had accepted the allegations amounted to serious misconduct under the Education Act.
In order to avoid the need for a hearing, and to minimise costs, Mr Palmer asked the tribunal to impose as a penalty a censure and cancel his registration.
The teacher repeatedly talked to students about his genitals, referenced sexual positions and spoke about celebrities in a sexual way. He also told students he watched too much pornography.
Mr Palmer resigned after the allegations were made and told the council he no longer wanted to teach. He was censured for serious misconduct, his teacher's registration was cancelled and he was ordered to pay $955.72 costs - half of the prosecution costs.
Mr Bargh said the tribunal's decision was the right one for teachers and students. The school had spoken and dealt with any concerns the teacher's former students had.
Mr Palmer could not be contacted for comment.