Art teacher at Harrow whose topless photos were shared by the boys

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Tom Harper|Emer Martin12 April 2012

A teacher at Harrow - one of Britain's leading public schools - was distraught when topless photographs of her were circulated among almost all the 825 male pupils.

Former model Joanne Salley, 32, was taken home in tears when she discovered that boys were looking at the risqué shots. The images were found on a memory stick in the school's photography laboratory.

Cambridge-educated Miss Salley - a former runner-up in the Miss UK beauty contest and a Big Breakfast presenter - teaches art. The pictures were taken by professional photographer Fiona Corthine, who also teaches at the £30,000-a-year school.

"Miss Salley was topless," said a source. "Everyone already thought she was a babe, so naturally the photos went round the school like wildfire.

"The pictures were on a memory stick in the photographic studio and one of the boys looked at them. He was obviously very impressed because he decided to show them to his other pals at the school and then, suddenly, it seemed everyone had had a look."

Headteacher Barnaby Leon told the Evening Standard: "Joanne Salley is a long-standing and successful art teacher at Harrow who has in the past been a model. The pictures were stolen without the agreement of the photographer, who holds the copyright. The matter is being investigated.

"Joanne was understandably very upset. She is a very good art teacher who also contributes to a lot of things like the Duke of Edinburgh Awards."

Public relations expert Max Clifford today said it could be turned to Miss Salley's advantage. He said: "Joanne Salley would be perfect for the new lingerie range Boux Avenue. Her looks and her background as a Harrow teacher make her up-market and sexy. She is a very hot property and could easily make a million pounds in the next year."

Originally from Northern Ireland, the former girlfriend of England rugby star Matt Dawson has admitted her former modelling career caused excitement among pupils when she arrived at Harrow. "One of the boys kept sending me love letters, which wasn't really appropriate," she once said.

A school security guard, who did not wish to be named, said today: "Joanne Salley is so clever and beautiful and everyone on the hill likes her. The fact that the boys got hold of those photos sounds really sordid, but it wasn't like that. They were done by a professional photographer and they were on a private memory stick. I haven't seen them, but I'd like to wring the neck of the boy that sent them out."

School with a royal tradition

Harrow was founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter sanctioned by Elizabeth I.

It has educated seven Prime Ministers, including Winston Churchill and Robert Peel, two kings and scores of MPs, lords and foreign statesmen. Other notable alumni are singer James Blunt, Sherlock Holmes actor Benedict Cumberbatch and Blackadder and Four Weddings writer Richard Curtis.

Its uniform is particularly distinctive and includes black silk ties, dark blue woollen jackets and a boater.

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