Your child's classmates may look like small fry to you, but they look pretty scarey to him. Take him seriously!

Find out what's going on. Sit down and talk it through. The younger a child is, the more likely he is to tell you if he's being bullied, though he may not use the word 'bully'.

Older children are often reluctant to involve their parents.

The facts of the matter
Your son needs to be shown you have listened by seeing you take some action. Though you may feel distraught at the thought of your 'baby' being hurt, don't overreact. Make it clear that you support him and offer lots of reassurance.

Watch what happens when you drop him off at school. Is the playground well supervised? Come to collect him early so that you can see what's happening. Invite some of his friends over to play and subtly sound them out. Keep it low key. Watch how they play together and see if there might be a problem.

Talk to his teacher
However angry and upset you feel, don't be confrontational. Outline the specific behaviour that concerns you, review what you've done about it and ask for the teacher's cooperation in getting things sorted. Most teasing and bullying takes place out of adult earshot, so give the teacher time to find out what's going on.

• Tackling Primary School Bullies
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• Ask Our Experts: 'Special Needs' 9 Yr-Old
• Support Organisations: Education