Horror as pupils are taught violent poem of the teacher attacking students with guns

The images appear to be the doodles of a disturbed young mind unearthed at the back of an exercise book.

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Bloody: Teacher is about to stab the girl

Terror: One of Maria's 'excellent' pictures

In fact, they are the results of a homework project given to a group of impressionable 11-year-olds.

Parents of the children told of their horror after learning the class had been told to illustrate a violent poem called The Lesson by Roger McGough.

The poem is a black-humoured depiction of how an exasperated teacher attacks his unruly class with guns and knives and it is commonly taught to AS-Level English Literature students.

But parents condemned the decision to teach the poem to the new pupils at Polesworth International Language College in Warwickshire.

One father said his daughter came home distraught after having to draw the gruesome scenes.

Psychologists warned the task could cause lasting damage to pupils who were too immature to understand the black humour.

Christopher Woodward, 52, from Tamworth in neighbouring Staffordshire, was horrified when he discovered the storyboard his daughter Maria had created.

"She arrived home very upset, saying she had been given poetry that was violent and had to draw pictures of it," he said. "I was horrified to see drawings of children being shot, garrotted, stabbed, sliced with swords and blown up with grenades.

"I can see the humour in the poem, but an 11-year-old will not see a funny side to this sort of violence."

Mr Woodward, a Royal Mail worker, said the task was set during the second week of the new term at the school.

The English teacher who set the work - known only as Miss Warren - was so happy with Maria's efforts that she scribbled "excellent pictures" on the top.

Another parent said: "These kids are being told that a teacher - a figure of respect and authority - being depicted as a bloodthirsty child killer is comical. I just cannot see how that can be educationally productive."

Kairen Cullen, a child educational psychologist, said teachers have a "responsibility to protect a child's cognitive and emotional development" and such a task was "unusual".

Dr Iaon Rees, an expert in educational psychology, said the task was "an unnecessary risk".

He added: "You can upset them at a young age and cause confusion - there is certainly potential to cause damage, there is no doubt about that."

But the school's headmaster, Andy Clarke, said in 25 years of teaching the poem he had had no complaints until now.

"It is a well-written, humorous poem, by a highly-regarded children's author, and I fully believe it justifies its place on the curriculum," he added.

Liverpool-born McGough, 69, was awarded a CBE in 2004 and presents the BBC Radio 4 programme Poetry Please.