A RANGE of exemplary Clackmannanshire projects and tools are helping teachers drive pupil attainment up around Scotland.

Ahead of the launch of its new £120million Pupil Equity Fund, the Scottish Government and Education Scotland have brought together a range of new resources to help teachers close the gap between the least and most deprived young people.

A suite of examples include four projects and resources that were pioneered in the Wee County and will serve as blueprints for education professionals.

They include the 'Park Primary School and Alloa Academy Literacy Project', which outlines the activities and impact of collaborative work between a primary and a secondary school.

During the scheme, a P6 class attended the academy once a week for around three months to participate in paired reading with S3 pupils as well as in vocabulary building activities.

Park Primary feeds pupils to the academy with 94 per cent of its pupils coming from the most deprived areas of Scotland with limited reading resources.

The project allowed primary pupils to use the library of the secondary school with the aim of contributing towards closing the attainment gap in literacy.

It was also looking to get families more involved and make the transition between primary and secondary education smoother for both parents and pupils.

It is understood that 20 pupils took part, with 14 reporting they felt their vocabulary improved over the 12 weeks the project ran.

Education Scotland also says the children and teachers formed positive relationships between the establishments with the S3 youngsters gaining some employability skills.

Primary children's parents and carers were also involved in celebrating the success of the project with an event, which gave them the opportunity to visit the secondary school and meet staff.

Examples also included the 'Clackmannanshire Numeracy and Mathematics Progression Framework', a tool used to support practitioners in developing their understanding of progression.

It is extensively based on proven approaches and strategies and identifies the key knowledge, skills and understanding pupils should know before moving on to the next stage of learning.