By Karen James
A primary school teacher in Grantham, Lincolnshire has been dismissed from her position after she taught her year five class TikTok dances, an employment tribunal heard. Georgia Rogers, who had been a teacher at West Grantham Church of England Primary Academy since September 2019, was terminated for violating the school’s safeguarding procedures by not reporting the children’s use of TikTok.
The incident occurred on the last day of term in July 2021 when Rogers’ students expressed a desire to show her a TikTok dance. Rogers participated in the dance with the children, which led to her dismissal. The employment tribunal, presided over by Judge Victoria Butler, described Rogers as a committed teacher with a previously spotless disciplinary record.
During the tribunal, it was revealed that the pupils had protested against another teacher’s denial of permission to film a TikTok video by referencing Rogers’ involvement. This incident raised concerns about the appropriateness of TikTok for 10-year-olds.
Additionally, it was discovered that after the summer break, Rogers had engaged in “borderline unprofessional” communication with one of her students and the student’s mother via the school’s digital platform, Dojo. Among the messages exchanged, Rogers sent a picture of her nails and expressed affection towards the student. The tribunal found that Rogers had failed to discourage the communication, which came directly from the pupil and the pupil’s mother.
After these revelations emerged in September, Rogers was suspended, and the school conducted an investigation into several allegations. The tribunal noted that a further allegation concerning TikTok surfaced in October.
Rogers acknowledged during her disciplinary hearing that she knew children were active on social media apps like TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram, but she had advised them that creating social media videos at school was inappropriate. She used her background as a dance teacher to show the pupils the correct way to perform a dance they had seen on TikTok, recording it on the school’s iPad.
Despite her warnings against social media usage, Rogers failed to record the pupils’ engagement with TikTok as a safeguarding issue. The tribunal also noted that teachers at the school were allegedly encouraging pupils to watch Newsround, which regularly featured articles related to TikTok. Although Rogers challenged the decision, presenting evidence that she believed demonstrated the school’s promotion of TikTok, her claims of unfair dismissal and disability discrimination were ultimately dismissed.
The tribunal panel concluded that the school’s decision to terminate Rogers over the other complaints was a reasonable response, therefore upholding her dismissal.
