CHILDREN as young as three are being taught about anti-social behaviour in a programme launched in the North-East.

Youngsters from Havelock Primary School, in Sunderland, were the first to try out the Leaflettes storytelling programme, launched at the city's Winter Gardens.

For the past three years, the programme has been used in North-East schools to help improve the behaviour of children aged from five to 16 and teach them respect for others. Now it is being extended down to nursery age children through the Leaflettes.

Eric Patterson, headteacher at Shield Row Primary School, in Stanley, County Durham, said: "The scheme recognises that school life is more than SATs and exams."