Nearly 100 teaching posts have been lost across Sussex as schools prepare for the new academic year.

In Brighton and Hove, the overall number of full-time teaching posts - which includes support staff - has dropped from 1801 to 1772, although there were no compulsory redundancies.

The losses have been blamed on natural turnover as staff moved to other jobs and were not replaced.

David Hawker, director of children, families and schools at Brighton and Hove City Council said: "I think the cash crisis is at the bottom of this.

"Broadly speaking there are the same number of children as before but there is a real terms reduction in teaching staff achieved through natural wastage."

Mr Hawker said the impact next year would really depend on how much funding the council received from the Government.

He said: "Education secretary Charles Clarke is talking about finding £800 million and if we get a good share then we may be able to avoid further reductions.

"But the signs are that next year, it's going to be even worse."

Mr Hawker hoped schools would not have to cut their timetables or drop to a four-day week.

He added: "It depends on how the individual schools are going to manage their budgets.

"If a school has simply run out of cash altogether and decided not to lay off staff, although it has been done elsewhere we would want to look at all other options before considering that."

In West Sussex, there were eight compulsory redundancies and 15 voluntary but headteachers said some teaching jobs had been reduced by natural turnover and non-renewal of temporary contracts.

East Sussex fared best with just three voluntary redundancies but their overall drop in the number of full-time equivalent teaching posts was 39.

The survey, organised by The Guardian, asked local education authorities across England and Wales to comment on how they were coping with the education funding crisis.

Meanwhile, teachers in every secondary school in Sussex will be given expert advice on how to tackle bullying, the Government has announced.

Brighton and Hove City Council will be handed cash to appoint at least one "behaviour and attendance consultant" from this term.

Advisors will also be appointed by West Sussex County Council and East Sussex County Council, Schools Minister Ivan Lewis said.

The experts will then visit secondary schools to speak to senior staff on the best way to spot bullying and draw up plans to tackle it.

The move is part of a new Government drive to improve behaviour and attendance in schools.

Mr Lewis said: "Tackling bad behaviour in the classroom is essential if we are to raise educational standards and create a greater respect for teachers.

"We must have a new zero tolerance approach to bullying in our schools. No child should know the indignity and distress of suffering in silence."

The campaign will start with the broadcast of Tell Someone, an information film for children which reinforces the message that all forms of bullying are unacceptable and children do not need to suffer in silence.

The film has been prepared for broadcast on the BBC and all major commercial stations, as well as in motorway service stations, public Internet kiosks and shopping centres.

An anti-bullying charter will also be developed to help schools to check that they are doing all they can to tackle bullying.

The charter will offer schools the chance to commit to a zero tolerance culture.

Ofsted will now also issue inspectors with new handbooks so they can check if an anti-bullying policy is being implemented effectively.

In primary schools, group activities will be introduced for four-eight year olds and their families who need extra support to teach children the skills to manage their own behaviour.