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Schoolchildren should be forced to wear ties properly in a crackdown on bad behaviour.

Schoolchildren should be forced to do up their top button and wear ties properly in a crackdown on bad behaviour, according to a top Government advisor.

Failure to enforce clear rules on uniform can fuel disorder in the classroom because it promotes the view that school “is not really that important”, it was claimed.

Charlie Taylor, a leading head teacher and the Coalition’s new behaviour tsar, criticised the number of children who were allowed to turn up at school “with their top buttons undone and a large tie knot half way down their neck” to look fashionable.

He also said that schools in the toughest areas should consider recruiting therapists to work with the most problematic pupils who fail to respond to normal punishment.

The comments were made as the Government published new guidance for schools on dealing with bad behaviour.

The 50 page document – which replaces 600 pages of bureaucratic guidelines issued by Labour – orders schools to scrap “no touch” policies and use reasonable force when removing violent children from the classroom.

It tells head teachers to consider prosecuting pupils who make false allegations against teaches and cautions against automatically suspending staff accused of an attack.

Schools can also use airport-style security scanners without children’s consent to search for weapons and frisk pupils suspected of carrying knives, alcohol, drugs and stolen goods, it says.

The document even claims alcohol being carried by pupils can be poured down the sink or “sold at the school fair”.

Launching the guidance at Pimlico Academy in Westminster, Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, insisted many schools were still suffering a “real behaviour problem”.

He suggested that some were guilty of hiding misbehaviour from Ofsted by telling the worst pupils to stay at home on the day of official inspections.

According to latest figures, almost 1,000 children are suspended every day for abuse and assault, while nearly a third of all permanent exclusions in secondary schools are due to persistent disruptive behaviour.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Taylor, the Government’s lead expert on behaviour, said schools should consider introducing traditional uniforms – and reprimands for those failing to wear it properly – to instil pride in education.

Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister, said the majority of pupils at some schools felt pressured into wearing their uniform in the wrong way.

“I think it reflects where the balance of power lies,” he said. “If they feel pressure to wear their tie like that, you can also bet your life that they feel the same kind of pressure not to work hard, not to be studious.”

Read more at The Telegraph website.