It is a matter of concern that Ofsted figures reveal behaviour in Oxfordshire schools is lagging behind national standards and behind those of our peer regions.

While the headline statistic of 75 per cent of the county’s schools rated as good or outstanding on behaviour confirms that the majority of our schools are setting and achieving good behaviour standards, it still leaves us trailing in areas we should at least be matching.

In Hampshire, 85.9 per cent of schools were rated as good or outstanding. In Gloucestershire, it was 85 per cent, and in Buckinghamshire, 84.8 per cent.

As has been widely reported in the past, exam success in Oxfordshire is at the national average when a county of this type would be expected to achieve better. Indeed, on exam results we again trail our peer authorities.

Could it be that behaviour in Oxfordshire’s schools is one of those issues that needs to be tackled in order to achieve the raised performance in exams that Oxfordshire has been chasing for some time?

We think this is a very important question. Disruptive elements in the classroom do not disrupt only their own education, they disrupt the education of all.

Our schools are full of inspirational teachers but they all need the right conditions in which to teach and in which to help our children achieve the results they deserve.