Vocabulary

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please explain the last sentence of the following paragraph to me?

The new-style parents - mostly the ones down from London - would be in the classrooms before school, after school, chatting to teachers and pupils even popping their heads round doors while lessons where in progress, with messages about aunties or swimsuits or lost packed lunches. Lots of pupils took packed lunches. Mr Rossiter didn't like that. It somehow loosened the school's grip upon the child. It smacked of change: change smacked of chaos.

Thank you for your help.
Regards,
Hela

[Tdol]

Smacked = gave an impression of

It sounded like change; change sounded like chaos