Lancaster teacher banned after admitting fantasising about pupils

A science teacher who confessed to a colleague that he had sexual fantasies about pupils whose images he had viewed on Instagram has been banned from the profession for life. Jacob Woodland, 28, admitted he had looked at photographs of several female students, three of whom under 18, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) hearing was told. The panel heard Woodland confessed on 24 August 2024 to the acting head of Ripley St Thomas Church of England Academy in Lancaster and wrote a statement in which he admitted his misconduct. "I am truly sorry but I have done something inappropriate and I cannot live with myself without being honest," he wrote. The teacher, who had worked at the school for five years, added: "I have looked at publicly available Instagram content of some senior female pupils at school and used these to fantasise for my own pleasure." He was suspended the next day and resigned two months later. The panel noted Woodland admitted that his conduct was sexual in nature and sexually motivated. His statement to the school also said the images were "clothed or partially unclothed" and may have included images of pupils wearing a bikini. The panel said it was satisfied that Wood