Teacher suspended for "misgendering" trans pupil and sacked for calling Muhammad a "false prophet" to face conduct hearing

4 January 2023, 15:55 | Updated: 4 January 2023, 16:08

A teacher who was forced to leave two different schools for “misgendering” a pupil and then labelling Muhammad a “false prophet” is now set to face a professional conduct panel.

Joshua Sutcliffe, 31, was suspended from his role as a maths teacher at two different schools – first from ​​Cherwell School in Oxford and then from a Catholic school in Islington, North London.

The teacher was initially suspended in 2017 before later quitting. He was then dismissed from a second school whilst employed in London in 2019.

With the Oxford academy stating his “misgendering” went against its equality policy, Sutcliffe then took legal action against Cherwell School for constructive dismissal and discrimination.

Claiming he had been victimised for his Christian beliefs, both parties later settled out of court.

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During the first incident at Cherwell School, Sutcliffe reportedly praised a group of students using the phrase “well done girls”.

The group in question included a pupil who identified as a boy.

Mr Sutcliffe, now a street preacher, says he apologised to the pupil in question when corrected, however, six weeks later he was suspended from teaching after the mother of the pupil lodged a formal complaint.

He said he’d had no official direction on how to address the pupil prior to the incident, adding that his fellow colleagues also chose to use the pupil’s first name over pronouns.

He did, however, admit to avoiding the use of male pronouns such as 'he' and 'him' on religious grounds, given his Christian beliefs.

The second incident saw the teacher suspended after a 12-minute video, titled ‘what does the Bible say about false prophets?’, was uploaded to YouTube.

In it, he made comments about Muhammad being a false prophet.

The professional conduct hearing, which relates to the first incident in Oxford, is now scheduled to take place on January 9 and continues until January 13.

In a separate video on Sutcliffe’s personal YouTube channel – now viewed 14,000 times, Mr Sutcliffe claims he was bullied by the “LGBT mafia”, resulting in him being removed from Cherwell School.

He then goes on to discuss his second suspension, saying: “this time it was an Islamic mafia.”

“Both camps used bully tactics and intimidation and they’re getting people sacked all around the country,” he said.

“This is very dear to my heart, I love education, I love teaching and I really enjoy teaching maths.

“The sad thing for me is that I’m not allowed to be me, I do my job excellently, I teach maths very well and I understand the curriculum.

“The problem is that we’ve got the LGBT mafia which got me kicked out of one school and the Islamic mafia who got me kicked out of another.

“Teachers are scared stiff of these bullies.”

Following the initial suspension, Mr Sutcliffe spoke out, noting he would “rather lose my profession than be silenced”.

“I was determined to comply with the school's policies so long as I was not unlawfully coerced to act contrary to my conscience.

Adding: “My teaching record is exemplary. I believe this case is not about my ability to teach but about me being a Christian and believing in the gospel and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”