A SPORTS-MAD boy’s innocent use of the word “buggered” in class led to him

being banned from a cricket tournament.

George Cockayne used the word to describe his teacher’s broken stopwatch. His

mother Lisa Wright says he had no idea of any other connotation, and she is furious about what she believes to have been the school’s ‘heavy-handed’ reaction.

She said the incident had been blown out of proportion and her son was being punished unfairly.

But the head teacher of St Mark’s School, Eccles, has defended her decision to ban the 11-year-old from the tournament, saying it came after three episodes of bad behaviour on the same day.

Miss Wright, 39, from Eccles, said the ban was prompted when George’s teacher tried to use the watch in class on Monday. When it did not work, the youngster said: “It’s buggered, sir.”

Miss Wright was called by head teacher Wendy Skinner, who told her not to return a form allowing George to go to a kwik cricket tournament in Tonbridge on Tuesday because there had been an “incident”.

She and her partner Paul Cockayne, 49, then met Mrs Skinner and George’s teacher and were told he would not be going to the tournament because he had sworn in class.

Miss Wright said: “That was not swearing. He meant that the watch was not working and I think he has been treated unfairly.”

Warned

A Kent County Council spokesman said George had been warned three times

about his behaviour on Monday but had ignored the warnings. Mrs Skinner told the Kent Messenger it was not appropriate to discuss the exact nature of George’s behaviour.

She said: “The school looks forward to working with the pupil in question and his parents to resolve any outstanding concerns in order to return to normality as quickly as possible, since this is in the best interests of the child.”

But Miss Wright, of Hawkes Road, is demanding an apology and wants someone at the school to explain to her son what the word means and why it was wrong.

She said: “Until I went to the school I didn’t know what the word meant apart from meaning broken.

“I now want them to explain this to George, I’m not going to. This is about having a bit of common sense and I am so angry he has been treated like this.

“The reason I am so upset is because George achieves at sport and they knew that would hurt him severely.”