Last updated 11:10, Saturday, 22 November 2008

The sound of chatter resonates around the brightly-coloured classroom.

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Life’s lessons: Rob Blake with his class. One of his most memorable male teachers was the first person to tell him that not everything in life is fair

Look down and you see that teacher Neil Milligan is sitting cross-legged on the floor beside his five, six and seven-year-olds, listening intently.

They are catching up on one another’s news, finding out what classmates did that weekend. When one clutches the fluffy toy lion, it is their time to speak and their friends have to listen. Unsurprisingly, the boys’ animated discussions centre around their antics on the football field, with each boy excitedly claiming to have scored more goals than the last.

I’ve walked in on ‘circle time’, one of the sessions Neil takes to develop the speaking and listening skills of the six girls and six boys in his key stage one class.

Newly-qualified teacher Neil, 23, is one of two male teachers at Wreay School, which has fewer than 50 pupils. He and his colleague Rob Blake make up half of the teaching staff. They both began in September and are settling into their new roles.

Neil said: “It is good to have a variety of men and women teaching, particularly in the primary sector.

“If you were to ask people to draw a picture of a primary school teacher they would draw a girl and in the schools and where I worked supply before coming here the majority of teachers were women.

“But it is important to provide a male influence. It helps, they are different and they’ve had different experiences.

“It is often said that a female teacher can’t get into the mind of a six-year-old boy. That is true. But it is only as true as the fact that I as a man can’t get into the mind of a six-year-old girl.

“I’m not saying it’s better, it is just important to have that male influence around, particularly if they don’t have male contact or influences at home.”

Clinical psychologist Dr Tanya Byron has the same view.

She said: “The need for strong male role models as constants in the lives of young children is more apparent than ever in light of the increasing numbers of children experiencing breakdown of the traditional family unit, growing up in single parent families or not having a male figure at home.

“Male primary school teachers can often be stable and reliable figures in the lives of the children they teach. They inspire children to feel more confident, to work harder and to behave better.”

Rob Blake, 29, travelled a different route from Neil’s three-year degree course to become a teacher. Rob, who was educated at Warwick Bridge and William Howard School in Brampton, has two degrees.

But it was not until he worked for Tullie House’s education unit in Carlisle that his interest in primary teaching came to the fore. He then did a one-year post-graduate certificate in education.

One of his most memorable teachers was former Warwick Bridge headteacher Mr Malarkey.

Rob said: “He was like a big bear, with a big beard. He was very honest and he was the first person to tell me that not everything in life is fair.

“He made everything fun. He had a farm and I remember he would bring his cattle trailer down and we’d all get in the back and we’d go to the carol service in the church. I don’t think that would happen today.”

He added: “I suppose there should be more male teachers as they are positive male role models. There are many different family backgrounds now and so having a male influence at school is a good thing.”

Wreay is bucking the trend when it comes to male teacher ratios. Nationally, only 13 per cent of primary school teachers registered with the General Teaching Council are men although the number of male trainees is increasing.

The influence male teachers play in the lives of youngsters was highlighted in research recently carried out for the Training and Development Agency for Schools.

A study of more than 800 men found that 35 per cent of men felt that having a male primary teacher challenged them to work harder at school and 22 per cent believed that male primary teachers helped build their confidence while they were young.

The men surveyed reported that they were more likely to approach male teachers with issues of bullying (50 per cent), problems at home (29 per cent) and questions about puberty (24 per cent).