At the age of 11 I moved from a small town primary school to a large inner city school.

It was a difficult transition with bullying rampant and intimidation a routine occurrence.

During my second year, a new headmaster arrived who was quick to observe the bullying culture and would have none of it.

He obviously briefed his staff accordingly as they became much more aware and less tolerant of the intimidation.

I hated my first two years at that school but after the arrival of the new head my life changed dramatically.

My attendance improved as did my grades. (I even got a distinction in maths).

The response by Cheshire East Council leadership to the fact that almost a quarter of its employees report ongoing bullying is not to manage their way out of it but lash out £152,000 (of our money) on an outside consultancy to show them how to be civil to their own staff.

God help us.

By columnist Vic Barlow