Kaodi O'Loughlin Campbell, 34, has been banned from the classroom after a professional conduct panel found she sent inappropriate Snapchat messages to a vulnerable pupil she met while teaching at Elmwood School in Walsall.

The Teaching Regulation Agency heard that Campbell developed contact with the pupil outside of formal school channels. The boy, who attended the special educational needs school, was described as vulnerable. The panel concluded that the communication breached clear professional boundaries expected between teachers and students.

Evidence presented during the hearing showed that messages were exchanged via Snapchat, a social platform not approved for staff-pupil communication. The panel determined that the nature of the contact was inappropriate given the imbalance of power and the safeguarding responsibilities placed on teachers, particularly within specialist settings supporting children with additional needs.

In one message, Ms O'Loughlin Campbell sent a message to the pupil stating: "I ain't trying to move to you like that I ain't a pedo I just think you're a lovely person and I want the best for you." In another she tells the pupil: "Make sure you delete all messages from here." One message instructs the pupil, whose name and gender has not been revealed, to "delete these messages," while another states: "Add me back on Snap."

A family source told the Daily Mail that Ms O’Loughlin Campbell had been ‘traumatised’ by the fall out from the case and said: "The problem is she cares too much. She was always being sent letters of thanks from pupils and their parents but on this occasion she was naive. Kaodi had just come out of university when she got the job with the school in Walsall. She’d got first class honours in Youth Work and Community Development."

"But her training was suited to teaching juniors not seniors. The school should’ve recognised that and not accepted her placement and the agency shouldn’t have sent her there in the first place. Kaodi had just five conversations online with this pupil. It was the pupil who found her on social media - due to her unusual name - and it was him who messaged her first."

"When she was working at the school, she’d be the one the staff would turn to if the boy started misbehaving because she’d built up such a good rapport with him. When he got in touch with her she felt almost obligated to reply and make sure he was doing ok. She thought because he was an ex-pupil and not a current one that she wasn’t breaking any rules. In that respect she was naive. But this whole episode has been blown way out of proportion and it’s killing her, it really is. She’s been left traumatised by it all."

The misconduct panel found her actions amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and concluded that her behaviour risked bringing the profession into disrepute. Safeguarding standards require teachers to maintain strict boundaries, both inside and outside school premises, including on social media.

As a result, Campbell has been issued with a prohibition order until January 2028, preventing her from carrying out teaching work in schools and other relevant educational settings in England. Prohibition orders can be reviewed after a minimum period, but the immediate effect is removal from the profession.