An education department official has addressed questions on whether a tipping competition has any place in NSW classrooms, as a Wollongong PE teacher stands accused of engaging his students in an illegal sports betting club during class time.
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Phil Saunders Saunders is fighting charges of intimidation and gambling with a minor stemming from his 2021 teachings.
Evidence provided in Wollongong Local Court on Thursday focused on whether a tipping competition - distinct from gambling - amounted to a breach of conduct.
The NSW Department of Education's director of child protection investigation, David Wright-Smith, told the court the department did not have a specific policy on tipping.
But he added: "the issues are tangential - conflict of interest, breaching professional boundaries and encouraging students ... into activities which are not appropriate for them or might ... lead to further risks for them".
"So there is no prohibition on tipping competitions per se, but it is something that, in my view, is likely to breach the code of conduct in relation to those other aspects."
"It's something the department in general ... would not encourage beyond the maths syllabus - that might teach about chance, probability," he said, adding the PDHPE syllabus could also include content on "problem gambling".
Mr Wright-Smith said he was unaware of a work sheet produced by the department that engaged students in tipping around a "points-based system, not a financial reward system".
"In 2020, during COVID, the department produced an NRL footy tipping resource for students which involved work sheets for choosing teams each week in a tipping competition," Saunders' lawyer said.
"That's not within my knowledge," Mr Wright-Smith said.
In evidence, former students have described how Saunders would run a weekly English Premier League betting club for his Year 12 pupils, with bets allegedly starting at 20 cents.
One student earlier described the betting as "a whole class spectacle, there was a whiteboard with names and all of our attention would be on it during the lesson".
Much of the court scrutiny centres around whether any money changed hands in the classroom.
None of the four student witnesses giving evidence earlier this week could recall seeing Saunders physically collecting money from the students.
The matters came to light after a student told another teacher, "Mr Saunders wasn't teaching and $2 was being bet on soccer".
This week a student witness told the court, "money was then put forward", adding that she saw $2 coins on tables in the classroom.
On Friday, Wollongong police detective Nathan Kirkwood told the court himself and another officer arrested Saunders at the school he taught at in March 2021.
Since then, Mr Kirkwood said Saunders has been sidelined from the classroom during legal proceedings, but remains employed on "alternative duties".
The court heard another week is needed to hear the remaining evidence on the alleged betting competition.
Saunders has also pleaded not guilty to two counts each of indecent assault of a person under 16 and aggravated indecent assault of a person under his authority.
Those charges will be the subject of a separate hearing.
The matters have been adjourned for mention later this month, where a magistrate will allocate future dates for both hearings.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
