EDUCATION Secretary Angela Constance has praised Inverclyde Council for its record on helping pupils succeed in school.

She visited the area to hear about the work which will take place in the district as a result of a large grant to plug the gap in attainment affecting those from poorer backgrounds.

The Scottish Government has allocated the area £591,670 with a further £120,000 to come in the autumn from its Scottish Attainment Challenge fund.

Inverclyde’s students recently secured their best exam results in a decade and the local authority has regularly topped the tables for helping pupils move on to study, training and into work.

But there is still a huge divide between the prospects of children from deprived areas and more affluent places in Inverclyde — and Ms Constance believes the Scottish Government fund can make a difference.

She said: “I have been very impressed with the work I have seen — Inverclyde has a very good record in exam results and improving positive destinations.

“But we do face a challenge across the country to help children from deprived areas.

“We want to make sure that every child has a chance to succeed no matter their background.

“We can do this in lots of ways — we want young people to be able to get apprenticeships, go to university, go to college and get into work when they leave school.” Inverclyde Council is set to use the new funding to work with six schools — All Saints, King’s Oak, Newark, St Francis’, Aileymill and St Andrew’s in the first year of the attainment project.

Teachers will concentrate on a number of key areas including improving numeracy and literacy.

The funding will also be used to encourage more involvement from parents.

It was recently revealed that standards in attainment in both numeracy and literacy in primary schools had slipped nationally.

The education secretary, who met with officials and education committee convenor Terry Loughran for the launch of the attainment fund, added: “We always have to look to improve and we want to work in partnership with parents.” Under the attainment challenge, other schools to get funding in future years will include Whinhill, St Joseph’s and St Michael’s in the second phase and then St Patrick’s, Lady Alice and St John’s the following year.