TWO pupils have been disciplined for making “discriminatory comments” to each other in an incident at a Southbourne School.

The incident occurred at St Peter’s School in St Catherine’s Road, Southbourne, on a date last week.

Anthony McCaffrey, headteacher of St Peter’s School, said that the school has a “very firm anti-bullying policy”.

He said: “Last week an incident took place between two pupils which involved each pupil making discriminatory comments.

“Both pupils have been penalised appropriately and following this have made apologies to each other. We consider this matter to be closed.

“We always deal quickly and decisively with all cases that are brought to our attention.

“Any parents with concerns should contact the school in the first instance to enable us to deal appropriately with any issues that they may have.”

Cllr Tony Woodcock, cabinet portfolio holder for children’s services, Borough of Poole, said there was an anti-bullying policy in all Poole schools.

“It was getting quite well under control but it’s starting to rise again. It’s quite a problem,” he said, as was cyber bullying.

He added: “When is bullying, bullying, and when is it simply name-calling, and do we have a proper definition of what bullying is? I shall be bringing that up with officers.”

Stuart Twiss, head of children and young people, strategy and quality improvement said: “Many of our schools have adopted a restorative approach when incidents of bullying do occur. There is a great deal of evidence that these approaches are effective not only in resolving the immediate issue but also in terms of changing young people's behaviour in the long term."

Jane Portman, Executive Director for Children and Families Services, said: “All Bournemouth schools have robust anti-bullying policies and consider all forms of bullying unacceptable.

“The incident that took place at St Peter’s School was not a form of bullying and both pupils have apologised to each other.

“There have been no previous incidents between the two pupils involved and we are satisfied with the way the school investigated and handled the situation. One-off incidents like the one described are promptly resolved and so are not regarded as bullying because bullying is sustained over time between one or more parties.

“All forms of bullying are addressed when known about, through directly working with the pupils who are involved, and through Personal Social and Health Education curriculum, assemblies and whole-class discussions.

“Ofsted inspections generally show that schools across the borough provide a positive environment where pupils feel safe and secure.”