Woodthorpe'S headteacher today vigorously defended the school's anti-bullying policies.

Jonathan Hodge said it would not be proper to discuss the details of any of the three "unrelated individual" cases, but claimed the school had tried hard to work closely with the parents to address their concerns.

"At Woodthorpe School we take any reported incidents of bullying very seriously," he said.

"Our policy and procedures for dealing with the rare, identified cases of bullying, which arise from time to time, were commended in our recent Ofsted Report of April 2002, paragraph 35.

He said this stated: "There are very good procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour and for combating bullying, which have been instrumental in the resulting good behaviour in school."

Mr Hodge said parents had the opportunity to use a complaints procedure if they had any concerns, and the school regretted that the parents in this case had chosen to air their views publicly - in one case eight months after the child in question left the school - before seeking a resolution of their concerns through the available channels.

Updated: 10:49 Tuesday, October 07, 2003