The Catholic Church has responded to claims from the head of the NASUWT that it is refusing to target homophobic bullying in schools.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT union, recently accused the Church of rejecting a call by ministers to ensure that all schools in England have a policy to tackle the issue.

She told teachers gathered for a conference in Birmingham on combating prejudice: "Their resistance to homophobic bullying policies fails to understand that young children, regardless of their sexuality, can be victims of homophobic bullying.

"They fail to see that it destroys children's education and wider life chances.

"The Catholic Church is abdicating its responsibility to look after the health and well-being of youngsters."

Ms Keates said one in five teenagers reports being a victim of homophobic bullying.

There is evidence that some bright 16-year-olds were being turned off education because they were the victims of such abuse at school, she said.

Youngsters do not have to be gay or lesbian to become the targets of bullies. Children can be taunted and called "gay" for their behaviour, appearance or mannerisms, she said.

"I would have thought that any school, including ones run by the Catholic Church, would need policies that discourage that kind of behaviour," she said.

Speaking to a recent inquiry by MPs, Chairman of the English Bishops' Conference's Department of Catholic Education and Formation Archbishop Vincent Nichols said that singling out any particular form of bullying would lead to a deluge of paperwork for schools as other interest groups demanded equal attention, The Universe Catholic Newspaper reported.

Oona Stannard, Chief Executive of the Catholic Education Service, also rejected Ms Keates's criticisms of the Church.

"We are very clear that all forms of bullying are intolerable, whatever their focus and to whoever they are directed," she said.

"We would expect all schools to have tough anti-bullying policies, to monitor these and to keep them under regular review.

"What really matters is that schools should have anti-bullying policies which make absolutely clear to all concerned that any form of bullying is intolerable.

"Ms Keats should feel confident that the policies, pastoral care and other activities of a Catholic school do all that is possible to ensure that no young person is the target of a bully."