Parents have a vital role to play

Getting children to behave well enough so they can actually learn something is a constant battle for even the most experienced teacher.

Kathy Duggan, 51, has been a primary school teacher for 15 years - nine of them at a school in the south-east of the capital where 25 different languages are spoken and many children are poor enough to qualify for free meals.

She said the "laissez-faire, liberal" attitudes of the Sixties meant that many of today's parents had failed to instil respect for authority or education in their children. She said poor diets and a disorganised home life all had a part to play in bad behaviour.

"Disorganisation and uncertainty with children means they are going to develop bad behaviour. It's nothing to do with ability, race or class - it's to do with the ability to organise family life in a way that, when they come to school, children are nurtured and ready to learn."