A teacher has admitted to accessing a pornographic website whilst delivering a lesson to pupils.

David Chidlow, who worked at Maidstone Grammar School, browsed profiles of women on an unauthorised site 74 times during school hours.

A virtual misconduct hearing held last week saw the Teaching Regulation Agency examine Mr Chidlow's inappropriate behaviour.

The 59-year-old was employed as a business studies and economics teacher for both GCSE and A-level pupils.

He had worked at the school in Barton Road since September 2018.

In the misconduct hearing, the panel heard how Mr Chidlow accessed a pornographic website whilst teaching a school lesson on Microsoft Teams.

The teacher admitted that he switched between the live lesson and the website on "multiple occasions".

The panel was told that in February 2021, the school’s monitoring software had flagged up key words "I take my life" from a staff member's school device.

These key words then prompted an investigation which uncovered that Mr Chidlow had been accessing an adult pornographic website on his school laptop in February and March 2021.

It was revealed in the hearing that remote monitoring of the teacher's laptop had been undertaken by the school without his knowledge.

Recordings and screenshots of the material Mr Chidlow was accessing also showed that he was teaching a class on Microsoft Teams at the same time.

The 59-year-old was also recorded deleting the adult website from his internet history.

After the school's investigation a formal disciplinary hearing took place in May 2021.

And last week the panel concluded that Mr Chidlow be summarily dismissed for gross misconduct.

Mr Chidlow further admitted in the recent hearing that he sought images and was actively communicating via email with females on the pornographic website for sexual gratification.

The panel said that the teacher "had demonstrated some insight into his actions" but did not believe that he "expressed remorse" in respect of either the pupils, the school or the teaching profession.

He was found guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct, with the panel recommending to the Secretary of State he now be banned from teaching.

Sarah Buxcey, who made a decision regarding the issues on behalf of the Education Secretary, said that a prohibition order would be "proportionate".

"In my view, it is necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession," she said.

"I am particularly mindful of the finding of dishonesty in this case and the impact that such a finding has on the reputation of the profession.

"I have gone on to consider the matter of a review period. In this case, the panel has recommended that no provision should be made for a review period.

"Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Chidlow shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach."

Mark Tomkins, headteacher of the grammar school, commented: "As soon as the matter of Mr Chidlow’s actions came to light, the school took rapid and immediate action.

"The Teaching Regulation Agency's decision to bar him as a teacher draws a line under the case. The school, as always, has the best interests of the students at the heart of everything we do and that will continue to be our priority."