Teacher lied to pupils about being shot in war zone

A maths teacher has been banned from the profession after lying to pupils that she was in the Australian army, at one point pretending she had been shot while in a war zone.

Alexandra Slay, a head of year at Epsom and Ewell High School in 2023, told pupils she would take trips to war zones, on one occasion texting a pupil pretending to be another soldier and claiming she had been seriously injured.

The 34-year-old, who worked at the school since December 2016, also sent letters to pupils to be opened "in case of worst case scenario" which read "If I am gone in person... know that I was doing a brave thing".

A disciplinary hearing this month banned Slay from teaching indefinitely.

A Teaching Regulation Agency report released on Wednesday told how Slay told multiple pupils she was "mentoring" them, and would send them messages including "personal diary entries".

One pupil interviewed said Slay started emailing them during the Covid pandemic and would send musical recommendations, pictures of hot chocolates and dogs, among other messages.

During one of Slay's fabricated trips between July and August 2023, Slay texted one pupil from her mobile phone pretending to be "Lt Col D Blackburn". The texts claimed Slay had been shot in the abdomen and required emergency surgery.

Later texts claimed Slay, styling herself as a Captain in the military, had gone into cardiac arrest and "flatlined".

Other emails in May 2023 claimed Slay had been further injured.

Slay was caught in August 2023 after texts and emails were found on a pupil's phone. She later resigned in November 2023.

When asked about the emails by the school, one pupil replied: "Yes, Miss Slay is actually in the Australian army, this is from when she was away."

Responding to the claims in a disciplinary interview with the school, Slay admitted she "had not been involved in any fighting".

She said: "That was wrong. I made up the lie to feel that I belong, was a part of the world."

The panel also concluded that Slay had sent inappropriate texts and emails, and had caused stress and alarm to pupils through her claims.

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