MORE than 12,000 'inappropriate' internet searches are blocked daily at one local high school.

The searches include the words 'sex' and 'terrorism', it was revealed today.

The headteacher at Philips High School, in Whitefield, made the shock admission at the inquest into the tragic death of former pupil Ben Walmsley.

A serious case review, that included Bury Safeguarding Team and Greater Manchester Police, found that the 15-year-old had made searches on suicide while in the classroom at the school.

The inquest heard that searches on key words, which included the words ‘sex.’ and ‘terrorism’, were blocked by a two tier firewall, but only after Ben’s death was a systems upgrade used to immediately warn IT staff of what pupils were looking at.

Tina Owen, headteacher at the 900-pupil school, said: “On average there are 12,000 blocks of word, which are deemed inappropriate. The teacher can watch what the pupils are doing. It’s a difficult task.

“Since the upgrade there have been two incidents where pupils have been spoken to and their parents have been brought in.

She added: “I am not aware of how many schools in Bury have the same system in place.”

The inquest also heard from a school counsellor who admitted that although Ben had been receiving help for seven months from November 2016 to June 2017, but neither his head of year nor his GP was ever informed that there were issues surrounding his mental state. She admitted if she had concerns she would pass them on to her line manager and nobody else.

Head of year teacher, Colin Duxbury, said a friend of Ben’s had reported to him that he had seen Ben with cuts to his arms that he thought might have been self-inflicted. Mr Duxbury said he had asked to see the teenager’s left arm and forearm but could not see any obvious injuries and the matter went no further.

David Mellor, who carried out the review for Bury Safeguarding Team, said there had an incident in 2015 when Ben and another boy had been discussing suicide which was overheard by a teacher. The teacher in question decided that the pair were talking about suicide in general terms and not about ending their own lives, so no further action was taken.

Mr Mellor said: “The review was carried out to see if there are any lessons that could be learned to help prevent future tragedies.”

The inquest heard that improved measures included the upgrade of the IT systems, creating a multi-agency hub, and getting improved information on pupils starting at secondary school from primary teachers.

Ms Kearsley said in view of the number of issues raised she would be writing to government education chiefs.

Following the inquest, the school was unavailable for comment.