Ofsted chief's parting concern

All trainee teachers should be given lessons in behaviour management techniques to help them to control violence in the classroom, Mike Tomlinson, the outgoing chief schools inspector, says today.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Mr Tomlinson, head of Ofsted, the Government's education standards watchdog, said teachers must receive more help in tackling poor behaviour before they take a full-time classroom job.

Discussions had already begun over how postgraduate teacher-training courses could place greater emphasis on controlling behaviour.

His call comes ahead of a summit meeting today called by Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, to crack down on violence in schools.

Teachers, parents and pupils have been summoned to Whitehall to discuss the growing number of threats of violence made by parents and pupils against teachers.

Mr Tomlinson, who retires next week, said inspections had shown an increase in the number of schools "where behaviour is regarded as unacceptable" – up from 5 per cent in 1999-2000 to 8 per cent the following year. The past year had shown no improvement.

He said most of the sanctions available to teachers to deal with trouble had been removed, while there was no longer any guarantee that parents would support the school in its actions.