AN INVESTIGATION is being carried out after a confidential document describing pupils and parents of a Kent school in insulting terms was found lying in a street.

Pupils at The Howard School in Rainham are described as "Wallies" and "Dingbats". The file, which was apparently found in a street in Rainham, also calls parents "lazy, rough and unsuitable."

The front cover of the document said: "Do not leave lying around." The school’s deputy head teacher, Bill Edgar, says the incident is regrettable and the school will now be reviewing its procedures.

Mr Edgar stressed: “We very much regret that a highly confidential document about our students had got into the public domain. We are urgently reviewing our procedures to ensure that this does not occur again.

“The purpose of the document is to provide targets and strategies for improvement for students in year eight to 11 and background information about the new intake.”

A Medway Council spokesman added: “Our expectation of teachers in relation to written reports is that they should be based on evidence, that they should differentiate fact from opinion, and that they should be expressed in clear and professional language.

“All reports should be written on the basis that they could be shared with parents, as many of them already are. This has clearly not happened in this case.

“We are also very concerned that this document ended up where it did and will investigate and make recommendations to avoid this happening again.”