Bright sparks in Bradford schools have been singled out to benefit from an extra £1.5 million a year in Government money.

Every secondary school in the district has selected between five and ten per cent of its most able children, of all ages, for activities ranging from theatre days out to university summer camps.

The idea of the "gifted and talented" programme is to stretch and motivate top pupils by providing challenges and support.

The hot housing is aimed particularly at inner city schools in the hope that parents will be more likely to send bright children there.

Bradford Council's co-ordinator for the programme, John Skevington said: "If nothing was done about the flight from inner city schools it would probably get worse. The reason for under achievement in Bradford goes further than just material deprivation, there are also low expectations of education and low aspirations.

"There was a concern that parents who had aspirations for their children were moving to leafy suburbs or sending them to private schools, running the risk of creating 'sink' schools."

The programme is for both academically "gifted" pupils as well as those "talented" in areas such as sport, music and drama. So far activities organised have included:

Forthcoming university taster summer camps for more than two hundred 16 and 17-year-olds, so that more pupils consider higher education as an option.

Training in study skills.

Master classes with professionals from the worlds of art and drama.

Early GCSE entries.

Joint sessions with similar pupils from other schools.

The "gifted and talented" programme is the most controversial part of the Excellence in Cities scheme which is ploughing millions into education in selected urban areas in England.

The Government regards it as a pilot scheme and will be keeping a close eye on what happens.

Education Secretary David Blunkett has included the programme as part of his new drive to widen access to higher education.

Mr Skevington admitted there had been resistance from schools to begin with but he said the scheme was not elitist and they had rapidly come round to it.

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