HEADTEACHERS in Bolton are refusing to put up posters warning parents that they will be prosecuted for assaults on teachers.

The Government initiative to put the "zero tolerance" posters in schools has met with disbelief from heads who feel such a move would only lead to confrontation with parents.

The posters have been produced by the Department for Education and Skills as part of a "tool kit" for head teachers telling them how to deal with abusive parents.

Although teachers in Bolton have been faced with abuse, teaching union officials are not currently investigating any cases of physical assault.

Tony Hill, head at The Deane school, said: "I agree with the idea of making sure parents are coming to school in a reasonable frame of mind and giving us a bit of respect.

"But the posters would almost create a confrontational atmosphere.

"Putting up posters would not bode well for teachers and parents working together and would create a 'them and us' situation."

Hayward School's head, Tim Oakes, said: "We always try to work in partnership with parents and talk with them about concerns. We always find a way to sort things out.

"I would not condone violence from anyone, but I would have a slight hesitation in putting up a poster because I don't believe that a parent would do that in our school."

Head of Westhoughton High School, Ken Vann, said: "I don't see that if someone is coming into school with violence in mind that they will stop and read a poster."

Tony Buckley, who is the head of George Tomlinson School in Kearsley, said: "I'm not sure about the posters because it advertises the fact that we have regular occurrences of parental violence which simply isn't the case.

"I can see the Department wanting to support teachers, but sticking up posters would be counter-productive."

The secretary of Bolton's National Union of Teachers, Barry Conway, said: "The posters idea is going too far.

"It's unacceptable for anyone to be violent in any situation, but unfortunately in schools pressure builds up, parents come into school and explode, but generally speaking we can handle that.

"This is a punitive measure which could backfire."

The poster campaign was launched yesterday by Junior Education Minister Stephen Twigg at his old comprehensive in north London.