Nicky Morgan
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has appointed a school behaviour tsar to help teachers cope with minor problems such as swing on chairs and making silly comments  Getty

Pay attention, class, and stop sniggering at the back – Education Secretary Nicky Morgan is to appoint a school behaviour tsar.

Tom Bennett, a teacher, behaviour expert and director of the researchED project, will be named in the new role on 16 June when Morgan visits a London academy school.

Morgan is expected to say that the battle against low-level disruption is part of the government's "commitment to social justice ... [ensuring] every single person in the country has access to the best opportunities Britain has to offer".

Bennett will be tasked to develop better training for teachers, whom Morgan said were "never trained to deal with this low-level disruption".

The Department for Education said that although low-level misdemeanours, including swinging on chairs, passing notes and making silly comments, were "minor in themselves, they create a stream of disruption that can make teaching impossible and stop those young people who want to get on and learn".

According to Bennett, behaviour has been "the elephant in the classroom for too long, and the amount of learning time lost because of disruption is a tragedy".

He said: "At present training teachers to anticipate, deal with and respond to misbehaviour is far too hit and miss – great in some schools and training providers, terrible in others. Parents and children deserve safe, calm learning spaces, and teachers deserve to be equipped with sensible strategies that maximise learning, safety and flourishing. I'm delighted to lead a group which will offer advice on doing just that."

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