Teachers claim Britain is blighted by a 'not cool to be clever' culture, with growing numbers of pupils trying to fail at school. The experts explain how to get your children enthusiastic about learning this year.

Does school have an image problem? With the Professional Association of Teachers (PAT) this month endorsing a motion regretting that 'it does not appear to be cool to be clever', parents must now face the notion that smarts don't always equal street cred in their children's schools - and that very often kids will opt for the latter.

The PAT conference heard that for many children, being clever means being boring and a teacher's pet, with some high-achieving youngsters even refusing school prizes to avoid the stigma.

But for Dr Pat Spungin -- parenting expert and founder of the raisingkids.co.uk web site - the clever-isn't-cool culture is nothing new. "There's always been this nerd/geek/swot thing," she explains. "It's as if a kind of undeclared gap (exists) between the teacher and what the teacher wants and the students and what they want. So pupils who go along too much with the teachers... are disparaged by their peer group."

Children who find school difficult, or who find themselves in an institution in which they can't succeed, may become "anti-school", Spungin warns. "There's a group of kids who are setting the agenda. Their agenda's hidden of course because they can't succeed in school, so they're rubbishing what school stands for. They're quite powerful characters, and may be quite disruptive as well."

Chartered educational psychologist Kairen Cullen says parents must remember that school is about more than just classrooms and text books. "There's a twin agenda here for most young people: one is to learn, the other is to be socially successful," she says.

"They always have to juggle that, even from starting at nursery. Those are two big aspects of school that every young person has to deal with, and they have to find strategies for dealing as successfully as possible with the resources that they've got."

Rather than touting the benefits of cleverness for its own sake, parents' best bet is "really to do what they can to skill up their children to cope with the challenges that school presents, socially and academically", Cullen explains.

But while academic preparation tips are readily available through schools, getting to grips with a child's social preparedness may be a trickier process.

"I think that the word 'strategy' is really important... ways of coping, ways of actually surviving the school day, and not only just surviving it but enjoying it and getting the most out of it," Cullen says. "So, things like making good choices around friendships, things like how to function in a group context, how to deal with being verbally or socially bullied or left out - strategies for all of those things."

Spungin agrees that a parent's role is crucial: "I think that from the beginning parents should emphasise not only the importance of passing exams, but also a love of learning; an interest in finding out about things, to sort of stimulate their curiosity. I think that starts very young."

She also urges parents to "conspicuously support" their children's school - attending open days and building relationships with teachers - and encourage their kids to think about education in the long term.

"I would say not to say to your children that the important thing is to get an A - that it's not a short-term thing. Put across to your child that you're building for a longer term career. You want to go to a good university and have an interesting job, which doesn't come without a price. The price is a good education."