BULLYING is a problem in the county’s schools but headteachers are dealing with the majority of issues, according to a councillor.

Worcestershire county Councillor Jo Hodges is lead member of the Anti-Bullying Task Group which has been looking into the problem at key stage three, key stage four and sixth form level.

She said: “My own personal feeling is that schools are dealing very well with bullying. Most have admitted it does take place.

“However, although they deal well with bullying in the main, when that doesn’t happen it goes very wrong.”

Coun Hodges was speaking after a “brain-storming” meeting which was the first step in drafting recommendations on how to better deal with bullying in schools and other county council education venues.

The group is made up of county councillors and co-opted members with backgrounds in education and was set up earlier this year.

Since then the task group has spoken to students, pupils, teachers and parents to discover the scope of the problem and how schools deal with reporting, dealing and preventing bullying.

Coun Hodges explained: “There is good practice going on and we’re looking at what can be done to share those measures across all schools.”

She added the group may look at recommending schools create an “electronic system” to record all incidents of not just bullying but also bad behaviour, so the information can be more easily accessed.

Members will meet again on Friday, September 12, and will submit a report on their findings to the county council’s cabinet in November.