TEACHERS in Warminster have blasted parents who send their children to school in a tired and disorganised state.

Sheelagh Brown, headteacher at Kingdown School, said teachers were becoming more like social workers and less like teachers as they have to deal with badly-organised students who have been out in the town centre all night and arrive unprepared for school.

Mrs Brown said CCTV cameras and police in Warminster have alerted the school that some students are out until the early hours of the morning. Some need to sleep in the medical room during the day as they are too tired to study.

A new scheme, Ready to Learn, which will be implemented in all Warminster schools in the next few months, will urge parents to make sure their children are fully prepared for school by getting them to bed on time, ensuring they have the proper equipment and encouraging them to do their homework.

Mrs Brown feels that some parents believe that once their children enter the school gates they are no longer their responsibility.

She said: "There were kids coming in tired as they have been sat up watching TV all night, which is often unsupervised watching. Some even stay up until about 1am.

"There have been cases where children have been so tired we have had to put them on a bed in the medical room. They are supposed to be here to learn.

"We are not wanting to be critical of parents as most are fantastic. It is the ones that aren't supporting us who we want to encourage.

"We are not counsellors, social workers or nurses as we are not trained for those roles.

"It takes a whole community to raise a child."

The community scheme is based on a pilot project in America where shopkeepers in rough neighbourhoods stood out on the streets to encourage parents to let their children go to the nearby school.

The scheme was announced to parents whose children started at Kingdown School in September, but the project will extend to all primary schools in the town and possibly throughout west Wiltshire.