Schools are having to provide moral guidance to pupils which should be given by their parents at home, according to a senior headteachers’ leader.

Pupils lack realistic aspirations, are too heavily influenced by what they see as the “easy” lives of celebrities, and some have lost the art of conversation because they rarely sit down for a meal with their parents, John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told its annual conference in Brighton yesterday.

The problems were worst among working-class families, he said. “For some children, schools have had to take the place of the institutions that used to set the boundaries of acceptable behaviour – that was, fundamentally, the family and the church,” Dunford said.

“Never have the values of school been more important in children’s lives. Never has the job of school leaders in articulating those values, day by day, week by week, been so important. For many children, school and its values, its clear boundaries and moral framework, are the only solid bedrock in their lives.”

Ministers have put school-home relationships at the heart of their Children’s Plan, suggesting schools set up parent councils.

“Schools can’t and shouldn’t replace the role of parents,” Dunford said, adding: “It’s perhaps a sad indictment on the present age that we accept the need to help parents to play their part – to rediscover what being a parent means.” He suggested that the “stress and pressure” caused by national testing of seven, 11 and 14-year-olds was also seriously affecting pupils’ happiness. The combination of testing and league tables was “toxic”, he said.

Separate research published today by the thinktank Policy Exchange found that just 2% of parents chose schools only or mainly on the basis of league tables, which rank success in exams, and 42% of parents did not even consult them, while 87% believe schools should be judged against a range of factors, not primarily exam results.

The poll, of more than 2,000 parents conducted online, raises new questions about the tests and tables, which ministers say are crucial for providing parents with information about schools’ results before they choose a school.

This week the government will publish official data on school admissions which is expected to revealed that more than 100,000 of the 560,000 families allocated a place at secondary school this year did not get their first choice. Reports yesterday suggested that up to 30,000 pupils have not yet been allocated a school.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “Schools play an absolutely central role forchildren, but we can’t expect them to do everything on their own.”

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