STANDARDS of discipline in Bromsgrove middle schools have been slammed by a father who claims his ten-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by classmates.

The angry parent says well-behaved students are plagued by bullies and unruly children and he wants headteachers and Worcestershire Local Education Authority (LEA) to toughen up on disruptive pupils.

He said his daughter was attacked twice and believes punishment for the culprits was an insult to their victim.

For legal reasons we cannot name the child or the school.

The married dad-of-three told the Advertiser/Messenger: "The first incident was in September 2001.

"A boy, the same age as my child, chased her around the playground, pinned her against railings and began touching her."

"He became aroused and eventually she ran away.

"Being too scared to tell staff - she broke down when we collected her from school."

The family contacted the headteacher, who suspended the schoolboy and investigated the attack, and called police who interviewed their daughter but dropped the case because of lack of evidence.

The girl's father said: "Within days the boy was back in school and weeks later she suffered a similar assault at the hands of another schoolboy."

Again the culprit was suspended but soon returned to classes, and the schoolgirl, now 11, must sit in lessons with the alleged attackers.

"Our daughter is a reserved child who wants to put this terrible incident behind her and continue at the school where education is of a high standard," said her father.

"However I feel the attackers were not properly punished - they should have been expelled.

"We need more resources for special schools to cope with disruptive students, and parents must take responsibility for their children's actions."

The school's headteacher defended the reputation of his establishment.

"We have a full and active behaviour policy and both incidents were fully investigated," he said.

"We came to the same conclusion as the police - we could neither prove or disprove the allegations.

"Action taken was with the full knowledge and support of the LEA."

In September, the LEA will unveil new guidelines targeting various forms of bullying.

An LEA spokesman said: "Respected educational psychologist Geoff King is drawing up the document which aims to dispel common myths about bullying, give practical suggestions on how to tackle problems, and methods of surveying levels of bullying in any school."

Currently schools adhere to tailored guidelines from the Government document issued several years ago called Don't Suffer in Silence

sarah.chambers@newsquest

midlands.co.uk.