Lessons in shame

A SCHOOL has suspended two teachers after claims that teenage pupils on a cultural trip to the Far East ended up watching a live sex show in Bangkok.

Horrified parents only found out about the visit to the Thai capital's notorious Patpong red-light district after one girl posted pics from the trip on her Facebook web page.

One snap showed a group of the grammar school youngsters, aged 16 to 18, and the two teachers sitting around a table littered with beer bottles outside a Bangkok bar.

A member of the party is about to puff from a hookah pipe. The contraptions usually contain mint flavoured tobacco, drawn through water for a more mellow taste.

Grotty

Later in the evening some of the pupils moved on to the city's sleazy red light area, whose streets are lined with bars offering sex shows.

Last night a staff member at Bingley Grammar, in West Yorks - founded in 1529 and one of Brtain's oldest schools - revealed: "It is the talk of the school.

"The teachers, a man and a woman, are fighting for their careers over this because the youngsters were supposed to be in their care.

"They are claiming that the kids did not drink or smoke although that's not what the pupils are saying. But the worst part is that some of them went to the live sex show.

"The kids said it was disgusting, with couples there on stage having sex in a grotty bar. The teachers are claiming it was a mistake and as soon as the action started they left. But that is at odds with what the kids are saying.

"I mean, the Patpong area is not the kind of place where you go by mistake. It's completely in your face and wall-to-wall sex."

A dozen youngsters from the school - whose motto is Passing on the Torches of Learning - have spent a month in Thailand and neighbouring Laos over the summer.

As well as sampling the Far East's culture, they trekked through jungles to remote communities, helping disadvantaged schools with jobs like fixing broken furniture, painting and providing sporting equipment for the students.

But our source added: "I think it will be a while before anyone from the school is visiting Thailand again.

"The allegations have left a very sour taste in the mouth. Some of the parents are absolutely incensed.

"It takes a lot of trust for a parent to pack their child off to the Far East for a month and they don't expect them to be smoking, drinking and witnessing degrading XXX-rated spectacles in bars."

Head teacher Chris Taylor confirmed that the school, with the help of Bradford Council, has launched an inquiry. He said: "A potential concern has been raised about activities during the trip. We are treating this with extreme seriousness.

"We will take appropriate action at the investigation's conclusion. It is inappropriate to comment further."