'Bullies forced me to leave school'

A teenage girl today told how she was driven from school by bullies.

Danielle Shanks sank into depression during the three-year campaign of sustained abuse she suffered at the hands of a group of classmates.

Despite consulting teachers in an attempt to stop the bullying, she could no longer stand the torment and left school.

Now the 15-year-old, who had originally looked forward to moving to secondary school, is studying a correspondence course from her home in Walton-on-Thames.

"Leaving school was one of the best things I have ever done," she said. "For three years, I was bullied by a group of boys. I don't know why they picked on me. A few people were singled out and, unfortunately, I was one of them.

"Now it is nice not having to worry about going to school each day."

Her story emerges as schools are being made legally responsible for protecting pupils from being bullied.

Guidelines introduced by the Government this month mean headteachers will be breaking the law if they do not stop children from being picked on at school. In the most recent survey for the Department for Education and Skills, 87 per cent of pupils aged from 12 to 15 said bullying was a problem in their school.

And in a number of tragic cases the victims have taken their own lives. Earlier this month it emerged that 13-year-old Laura Rhodes had apparently entered into a suicide pact with a friend after being bullied at school.

Today it emerged she revealed her anguish in a letter she was asked to write by counsellors. She told how fear seized her as soon as she woke in the morning, adding: "I hoped I would never wake again."

But since Danielle turned to home education a year ago, her mother Deborah has noticed her confidence slowly returning. Midwife Mrs Shanks, 39, said: "She is thriving now but when she was at school we could see she was upset every morning and in the evenings." Mrs Shanks and her husband, Paul, 43, who works in the print industry, were at first reluctant to take their daughter out of Rydens School, a coeducational comprehensive. But after numerous meetings with teachers, they agreed home-schooling would be the best option.

Danielle, who regularly gets A and B grades in her coursework, said: "The teachers were trying to address the bullies but they couldn't watch them all the time."

A talented violin player, she has made friends at the Surrey Youth Orchestra but keeps in touch with just one former schoolmate.

Rydens' headteacher Mark Jackman said: "We have a detailed antibullying policy developed in accordance with Surrey and national guidelines. All staff are aware that any incident, no matter how trivial, must be reported.

"We are devastated when we have problems that can't be resolved to the satisfaction of those being bullied."

Danielle hopes to go to college next year to sit GCSEs in maths, English and science.