SCHOOLS in York are winning the fight against bullying, new figures revealed.

The number of recorded incidents in the city's secondary schools has fallen following a joint campaign with education bosses at City of York Council and the NSPCC.

A survey of 3,000 pupils across all of York's 11 secondary schools has revealed that six per cent of children reported they were bullied at school - a figure lower than the national average which compared with eight per cent the previous year.

The campaign, which included children completing a confidential survey and taking part in a theatre in education group, was introduced by the authority to tackle complaints about bullying by parents and children.

It was backed by the NSPCC, which ran a leaflet and poster campaign in schools, which was partly funded by Asda.

Murray Rose, the council's assistant director of education, said the bullying figure was still higher than the authority would like.

He said: "All of the schools are supportive of the process. We were determined to bring down bullying levels and worked with schools and with the NSPCC to tackle the problems. Schools worked hard to make clear that bullying would not be tolerated. A year later the survey was repeated and we were delighted that the number of pupils reporting that they were often bullied had fallen to six per cent.

"It is a real credit to our schools that they have worked so hard to improve the lives of children."

The survey was designed by LEA staff in conjunction with experts at St John's College.

The campaign success was revealed as the Government announced that teachers in every secondary school in York and North Yorkshire will be given expert advice on how to tackle bullying.

City of York Council will be handed cash to appoint at least one "behaviour and attendance consultant" from this term and advisors will also be appointed by North Yorkshire County Council.

The experts will visit secondary schools to speak to senior staff on the best way to spot bullying and draw up plans to tackle it, said Schools Minister Ivan Lewis.

The move is part of a new Government drive to improve behaviour and attendance in schools.

Updated: 11:02 Tuesday, September 09, 2003