THE teenagers at Worcester's Nunnery Wood High were just starting primary school when Tony Blair came to power with his rallying cry of "Education, education, education." Eight years and three General Elections later, as the Government announces radical school reforms, Generation Blair has something to say. The Worcester News set up a focus group to hear how, like the Prime Minister, they want harsher punishment for unruly pupils and more choice. They are not too wild about tuition fees though.

The focus group comprised: Emma Cuerden, aged 14, Lauren Mullen, 13, Charlotte Oliver, 13, Hannah Clark, 13, Wesley Dean, 15, Jonathan Podmore, 14, and Daniel Pitt,15.

ON DISCIPLINE

Daniel: "Schools need rules. Quality of life is much better if you have rules to stick to. We are here to learn after all."

Jonathan: "Personally, I'd like teachers to be stricter. People have to adapt. If people go too far they have to be kept in line. If pupils misbehave we should exclude them straight away so they know what's going to happen if it occurs again."

Lauren: "Teachers should talk to pupils more often to discuss what should be done. Most of the time they are behaving badly just to show off or it's because of their home life."

Hannah: "Yes, their background."

Emma: "Or they're just doing it for attention."

Daniel: "Parents should be told straight away. I'd be pretty scared to go home if teachers told my parents I'd misbehaved."

Wesley: "Discipline needs to be enforced more. It should start with letters home and then expulsion."

ON TUITION FEES

Lauren: "University is really expensive. My sister is looking for one and it's difficult to find one she can afford. If you're a parent and your children want to go to college, you may have to work more to earn more. That could end up wrecking family life if you can't spend as much time with your children."

Daniel: "I don't think you should pay, especially if you want to be a doctor and your qualifications mean you will save lives. It would be a waste to society if these people don't go to university because they can't afford it."

Wesley: "It's ridiculous how expensive it is to pay off your student debt."

Charlotte: "I just don't want to go to university if it costs this much."

ON TEACHERS

Hannah: "We get lots of rewards and they reward you with trips and that makes you work."

Daniel: "The teachers send postcards home to parents if you have achieved in lessons. It's a great idea. It really motivates you."

Wesley: "I think if children aren't behaving, that's their problem."

Emma: "I agree that each pupil should get rewarded for effort. If they had that they would be more willing to keep trying."

Jonathan: "You've got to involve the parents though. Most children will do what their parents say."

Lauren: "We have all been given opportunities so the people who don't take them are just selfish."

Jonathan: "Yes, it can have a knock-on effect on qualifications and then the rest of your life so it goes back to punishments, discipline and wanting to learn."

Lauren: "Teachers need to learn how to discipline children properly and how they should react to bad behaviour. Lessons should be fun and teachers should make them exciting."

ON CHOICE

Lauren: "When my parents were choosing a primary school we were told I should go to Cherry Orchard but they wanted me to go to Powick because it is a village school that was smaller and that did help me because there weren't many naughty kids. With smaller class sizes, teachers can control them better."

Emma: "I don't think that's always true. I went to Cherry Orchard. There were 28 people in a class and I enjoyed it."

Daniel: "We used to live in Lower Wick and I think I should have gone to Christopher Whitehead but I was impressed by the sports facilities at Nunnery Wood. I'm good at the triple jump. Before I came here I didn't even know how to do it."

Jonathan: "I think you should have your own choice about what subjects you do too. If you're doing something you want to learn, nobody's going to be disruptive."

Daniel: "Exactly. I wasn't very good at CDT, I would have rather have been playing sport and doing what I'm good at."

ON STREAMING

Jonathan: "We don't get set in some subjects but sometimes less bright ones are given separate teaching and sometimes the brighter ones are held back."

Hannah: "I used to live in Manchester where they still have the 11-plus and that's a really bad idea because it splits up friends and if you fail you'd think you were stupid."

Emma: "When you leave school, you are not going to be just meeting people with the same abilities as you. If you went to school and only met clever people, that's not the real world."

Wesley: "Ability sets are a good idea because, if you're with people of a similar standard, you don't feel small in comparison."

ON SCHOOL TRANSPORT

Charlotte: "I get the bus to school and it cost £1 each way and that's way too expensive."

Jonathan: "My mum has to buy a bus pass for me and it costs £600."

Lauren: "It should be free. In the end people will start walking and that'll be dangerous."

Emma: "It costs less to get the normal bus. They should be made far less expensive because people complain about pollution. If everybody is driving to the same place, it shouldn't be hard to share lifts."

ON UNIFORMS

Emma: "We should definitely have them because it keeps everybody equal."

Lauren: "They give the opportunity for children who don't have much money because if some children wore designer clothing that separates them."

ON TESTS

Hannah: "We have our SATS tests this year which seems to increase the amount of homework."

Lauren: "There does seem to be test after test after test. After every module we get tested again. It would be better if we just had an exam at the end of term."

Hannah: "What we do is relevant because in maths we're learning about money and interest."

NUNNERY WOOD HIGH: THE PANEL

Emma Cuerden, 14.

Lauren Mullen, 13.

Charlotte Oliver, 13.

Hannah Clark, 13.

Wesley Dean, 15.

Jonathan Podmore, 14.

Daniel Pitt, 15.