SCHOOLS and teachers come in for plenty of criticism these days but I wonder if any of us could do any better?

Teachers are expected to enforce discipline without any form of real punishment and have to watch very carefully everything they say and do around pupils.

The home backdrop to this is an increasingly worrying percentage of children who are not taught to have any respect for authority. Guilty are parents too keen to be best friends, buying them the latest iPods and letting them stuff themselves full of fast food.

School staff work to challenging targets which often take no account of the kind of school or pupils attending, or of individual and other achievements. And at the same time, they must show support for the latest Government initiative, of which there have been scores over the past few years.

Teachers know what children respond to. Overall, they know how to engage their attention in class and that they enjoy activities away from the National Curriculum, like sport, music and performing arts, and probably feel frustrated that it is difficult, sometimes impossible, to cram these into the school day.

Some children demand more time than others; some are more rewarding than others.

But teachers know what works because it has always worked, and they are grateful when headteachers lead positively, sensibly, and humanely from the front.

Phil Mather, for example, has turned around once-failing Withins School in Breightmet, and one of the rules he has insisted on is correct school uniform for every pupil.

This simple device instils pride, identity and belonging - all great steps to helping pupils get the best from their schooling, and helping their school be the best.

By pulling together, staff, pupils and parents have now made Withins one of the most-improved state secondary schools in the country, with far better exam results.

This shows that if you give children definitive parameters, they will blossom.