The short answer, of course, is “No!” But here is more proof: Ed Balls: Improving behaviour in schools is everyone’s business.

It’s everyone’s business, except that you are now presumed to be a paedophile unless you are state-approved. Anyway, let the madness begin…

The Government today set out the next steps to make sure behaviour is good in all schools, so that pupils are free to learn and teachers are free to teach.

It’s another of those we’ve-been-in-government-for-13-years-and-will-now-put-things-right moments. Just before the election. Who’d have thunk?

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Schools Minister Vernon Coaker launched a package of measures aimed at supporting teachers and dispelling myths around behaviour in schools. They will say teachers should not be afraid to use the powers the Government has given them to control unruly pupils.

“A package of measures” always sounds like you’ve really thought about it and come up with the best ideas: like allowing teachers to take their belts to those who are being naughty? That’s how my teachers used to control unruly pupils. And it worked, but it didn’t involve the police, social workers and the courts. No, it gave all the power to the teachers instead, which is absolutely no good to a State that now lusts after total control.

And it seems to me that the only powers the Government has given teachers are to pull their hair out and bang their heads against a brick wall. The power balance has been shifted in favour of the pupils and the ones who want to cause trouble know it. They know there is no chance of the instant pain and humiliation of the belt or cane for their misdeeds.

I had a very timid French teacher in either first or second year (I forget which) and who wouldn’t use the belt on anyone, but even she could control the class by sending an unruly child to the next classroom to get a few whacks from Mrs Falk.

The package, announced by Ed Balls at the Association of Teachers and Lecturer’s conference today in Manchester, includes:

* the first 20 of 100 Lead Behaviour Schools that will drive improvements in behaviour for the weakest schools
* guidance for teachers on how to maximise partnerships with exemplar schools
* a new report from Sir Alan Steer calling on schools to make better use of Home School Agreements to engage parents when improving behaviour.

It’s just more buzz words and a new report.

Lead Behaviour Schools

The first 20 of 100 Lead Behaviour Schools with exemplary behaviour were announced, who will receive £40,000 a year to mentor other schools to help improve behaviour across the country. Schools struggling with bad behaviour will be expected to learn from Lead Behaviour Schools and their innovative approaches to tackling behaviour problems.

This is supported by new Behaviour and Attendance Partnership Guidance, advising schools how to harness the expertise of other schools, police and children’s services to improve behaviour in the classroom.

See what I mean? It’s about getting children into the system. Get the cops involved. Children’s services. Anything but let the teachers take control of their classrooms. Teachers who do not have really good skills with children and know how to get their own way more than they do are now expected to take control, not by sending them next door to Mrs Falk to sort it out in half a minute, but to drag the child through the state system.

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls said:

Today I am naming the first 20 of 100 schools leading the way in behaviour policy across the country. These schools are using a range of innovative approaches, and the powers the Government has given them, to turn around poor behaviour in the classroom.

The expert schools will be twinned with schools struggling to control behaviour and there will be an expectation for schools with behaviour problems to learn from the Lead Behaviour Schools.

It won’t work. These things rarely do.

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker said:

However it is not just for Government and schools to drive improvements in behaviour, and parents must play their part.

Are these the same parents who are considered perverts for videoing the school nativity play? Or have their requests for their children to opt out of certain dubious lessons rejected? Even the parents are being emasculated. If New Labour had their way, parents wouldn’t even be allowed to smack their own children.

This is why I welcome Sir Alan’s report which shows how invaluable the Home School Agreement can become. For headteachers to have the power to take court action against parents whose children continue to behave badly, disrupt lessons and impact on other pupils is a vital step in the right direction.

The right direction leading to an all-intrusive state. We are not supposed to just sort things out between ourselves and then get on with our lives. Oh no. That would never do.