A Carey Grammar School teacher began a romantic relationship with one of her former students after they graduated from the school in 2020.
A Carey Grammar School teacher began a romantic relationship with one of her former students after they graduated from the school in 2020.
By Caroline Schelle
March 24, 2025 — 3.07pm
A Carey Grammar teacher who was sacked after starting a romantic relationship with a student soon after they graduated from high school faces a years-long ban from teaching.
Eleanor Louise Yorke faced a disciplinary hearing at the Victorian Institute of Teaching on Monday over allegations of serious misconduct while she was a teacher at the private school in Melbourne’s south-east in 2020.
Yorke was 26 and the former student was 18 when they began dating soon after the student graduated at the end of 2020. The relationship continued for a year.
Yorke, 31, started her career at Carey Grammar School in 2017 after completing her teaching masters at Melbourne University. She quickly rose through the ranks at the school, and by 2020, she was teaching chemistry and biology to year 12 students and was promoted to head of digital learning.
It was during COVID-19 that she and the year 12 student, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began to bond by chatting online using Microsoft Teams. The then 17-year-old student struggled to cope with lockdowns and sought additional help for schoolwork through Yorke, and the pair started to speak daily.
Yorke said she tried to “reset” the boundaries between herself and the student, but it continued in a “friendly” vein, the hearing was told.
The teacher had had “frequent and familiar communication” with the teenager throughout 2020, and had contacted them about 35,000 times via Microsoft Teams, the regulator said.
There was no sexual or intimate relationship between the two while the student was still at the school.
In one message sent on August 8, 2020, to the student, Yorke said: “Should I be leaving you alone?”
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The teenager replied: “My immediate response is no, but yes, probably.”
Two misconduct claims against Yorke relate to her behaviour in 2020, while the third relates to her sexual relationship with the student who had completed school less than two years prior.
In 2021, the professional regulator brought in a new code of conduct that banned teachers from having sex with former students for at least two years after they graduate.
Yorke conceded she had engaged in serious misconduct, and was not fit to teach.
Yorke did not pursue a relationship with the student until they graduated year 12 at the end of 2020, after which she passed on her phone number.
At Monday’s hearing, Yorke acknowledged the relationship was inappropriate and said she had discussed it with the former student at the time.
She said the queer relationship was “wholly consensual” and they even discussed the power imbalance between each other.
“Even though we spoke about our concerns with [the power imbalance], it still exists,” Yorke told the regulator.
“It was not appropriate and that’s inherent to any relationship that starts in a school context between a teacher and student.”
Yorke said she had not come out yet and was “deeply lonely” but that was not an excuse or a reason for her behaviour.
She accepted the consequences of her actions and knew she’d no longer be able to teach. Losing her career and her job at the school was “horrible” because teaching was everything to her, she said.
The revelations had also forced Yorke to come out to her family.
“I know it was wrong, and if there were people or individuals concerned, it was well within their right to have that investigated,” she said.
Yorke, who is now pursuing a career in psychology, said she and the former student had parted on good terms.
Carey Grammar became aware of the relationship in June 2023 and stood Yorke down. The teaching watchdog suspended Yorke’s registration that month.
In a letter to the school community at the time, principal Jonathan Walter said: “I can now confirm that the school recently received a report regarding Ms Yorke’s compliance with the school’s expectations regarding professional boundaries.”
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Walter said the report concerned Yorke’s interactions with a year 12 student from several years prior.
The panel agreed Yorke’s registration should be cancelled, but will provide a decision at a later date on how long she will be barred from teaching.
Yorke said she had no plans to reapply to work in an education setting.
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Caroline Schelle is an education reporter, and joined The Age in 2022. She previously covered courts at AAP.Connect via Twitter or email.
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