EVERY school in Bolton is being offered advice on how to ease children's fears about a possible war with Iraq.

Education chiefs have sent out a letter to primaries and secondaries to suggest how teachers could deal with emotional youngsters.

Meanwhile a leading Bolton trade union official has said many teachers oppose the war and will find it hard to be neutral, despite National Union of Teachers guidelines advising them to do so.

Staff at many schools in the town say their pupils have been deeply affected by what they are seeing in the news everyday. Some children are even breaking down in tears at the thought of the country going to war against Iraq.

A council spokesmann said: "Recent experience has shown that even very young children can be concerned by what they see on the television about major incidents and may want to talk about it."

The information advises teachers on the best way to answer difficult questions from children, how to listen to their worries and where to go for more guidance.

Naomi Richardson, headteacher at Eatock Primary School, in Daisy Hill, said a lot of older children had been asking teachers about the possibility of war and they were trying to answer children's questions calmly and sensibly.

She added: "There have been quite a few tears. Some of the pupils have dads or brothers who are either in the regular army or the reserves."

However, Glenys Evans, headteacher at Claypool Primary, in Horwich, has aimed to keep the discussion of war low-key.

She said: "We are not making an issue of it at all. We presume it is something fundamentally parents will discuss with children at home."

Bolton NUT secretary Barry Conway questioned whether advice from his union urging teachers to present a neutral view of any conflict would prove practical.

He said: "Most teachers are against this war because they will not support the killing of children.

"There is a very live debate now going on in classrooms about the looming crisis, and despite every attempt to be neutral, I'm sure teachers will find it very difficult to sit on the fence.

"It is only right for a national union which represents people working with children to give neutral advice.

"Nevertheless, it would be helpful if national governments also considered the effects of their actions on children before embarking on policies that clearly challenge everything that teachers are trying to teach them - peaceful resolution to problems, anti-racism, independence, negotiation and so on."