The woman was distraught and panicked when the 17-year-old told her she had actually harmed him and he wanted to sever all contact, the NSW District Court heard on Thursday.
'It seemed to undermine everything I thought was happening and I had gained a sense of meaning in my life from thinking — wrongly, I wrongly thought — that I was making him happy.' she claimed.
The former Sydney Grammar School teacher faced a sentence hearing after pleading guilty earlier this year to five counts of sexual intercourse with a person under care.
She had secretly met the victim several times over about three months in 2016 at her home, a classroom and a school storage cupboard, according to an agreed statement of facts.
The woman, now 34, had already been warned about her conduct with students and was told not to make sexual references or comments with obvious sexual connotations when she began texting the victim in 2015.
'I wish there was a way I could convert how sorry I am into something that could help him,' she said.
The case is due to return to court on December 13.