A HEADTEACHER who banned pupils from throwing snowballs in his school grounds has excluded a pupil for taking snow into the classroom.

James Colquhoun, headteacher at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon, condemned the 15 year old boy’s ‘deliberate act of defiance’, which followed a warning to pupils that snowballs should not be thrown within their grounds.

Mr Colquhoun, who excluded the pupil for two days, said: “We sent out 29 letters on Monday afternoon about our frustration over students defiance of our request that there be no snowballing within the school grounds.

“We have had parents come back saying they fully support us and we don’t think we are asking too much for secondary school children during school hours and on school property.”

Mr Colquhoun said the school was aware that snowballs could be used as weapons, once compacted into ice, and could even be used to contribute towards bullying.

He said: “I am trying to run a school in an orderly manor. The vast majority of students and parents are behind this common sense approach.”

His decision to ban snowballs from the school grounds has been criticised by one parent, who has two children at the school.

She said: “Throwing snowballs is part of childhood.

“The school should be using the snow in a more positive way. It’s over the top.

“If it’s really going to injure someone then okay, but it is something children have done for centuries.”

The parent said she wasn’t criticising Mr Colquhoun directly, adding: “He is a very good headmaster but I think this is a wrong decision.”