The list is based on the popular cable television show Gossip Girl and is headlined "Gossip Girl for Aschamites". Comments about the students included allegations of a girl having sex with numerous boys.

Others were: "biggest bitch in our year"; "she became cool in term 4 in year 8 and became really popular, that is all changing now"; "she thinks she's best friends with lots of people but they actually hate her"; "she has a big mouth especially to her mum, she tells her everything and [that is] one of the reasons why everyone's parents find out information"; "she also tried to do the gossip girl thing with year 9, spent over $1000 in phone bills and got into a lot of trouble with her parents"; "she has a weird laugh and looks like a koala"; and "she tells everyone she is a homaphrodite [sic] and showed people her vagina at Outward Bound". A parent of one of the girls named on the website said boys who had read the post approached his daughter in public. "She was approached when she was in Bondi Junction last week … and at a party she went to last Saturday night," he told the ABC.

"Everybody's aware of it. I would say the eastern suburbs schools are all aware of it." The Edgecliff school's headmistress, Louise Robert-Smith, sent a letter to parents on Wednesday confirming the cyber-bullying incident.

"We regret to confirm there has been a recent serious instance of cyber-bullying involving a number of girls in year 9," Mrs Robert-Smith wrote. "Two girls have left the school as a result of this incident." She said the posting had been removed but the material was still being disseminated.

Parents were advised to collect mobile phones from their children before they went to bed to stop them sending text messages through the night. "Have your household computers in public areas, not tucked away in bedrooms," Mrs Robert-Smith's letter said.

A parent of a girl named on the website said he believed the school had handled the matter well. He said his daughter was horrified at the comments posted on the site. "It has confirmed my idea that these websites are dangerous," he said. Mrs Robert-Smith declined to comment but Sefiani Communications Group issued a statement on her behalf saying the school was made aware of the matter last Friday morning.

The statement said two girls were placed on in-school suspension pending a detailed investigation before both girls "were withdrawn permanently from the school by their parents". It said the girls removed the posting after becoming aware it was in the public domain.

Counselling was offered to the girls affected and the school acknowledged the potential for emotional distress and long-term harm. "Ascham places the highest priority on providing a caring environment for students and does not tolerate bullying of any sort," the school statement said. Ascham was among the first schools to take part in a $126 million Federal Government cyber-safety program introduced in May last year.