Nearly £1million has been spent so far to bridge the so-called attainment gap between rich and poor pupils in Dumbarton and the Vale.

Dozens of projects have been funded across all primary and secondary schools with another £600,000 still to be used up.

Pupil equity funding (PEF) direct to head teachers was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2017 on top of the existing Scottish Attainment Challenge funds to councils.

A total of £3.38million was given to West Dunbartonshire schools – £1.5m of which was spent in Dumbarton and Vale schools. Up to April, £970,670 of the total had been spent.

The projects can be revealed in detail after a Freedom of Information request by the Reporter.

Nearly half of the money went on employee costs, including psychologists, while another £342,000 was spent on other staff costs. A total of £660,764, or 29 per cent, was spent on resources and £312,524 in payments to other bodies. In some cases, schools have spent above their allocated cash on attainment projects. But many schools are far below the cash they have available to spend currently.

Dumbarton and the Vale MSP Jackie Baillie said: “The fact that 55 per cent of the money, more than £1m, is being used to pay employees, including teachers and psychologists, shows just how underfunded schools are.”

Lennox, Renton and St Patrick’s primaries each got more than £100,000 in funding.

Bonhill Primary has used money to set up a junior Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme for P1-7 as well as new skills in ICT and literacy.

Christie Park Primary is working on literacy and numeracy attainment as well as health and wellbeing and trying to connect with “hard-to-reach families”.

Haldane Primary included a focus on mental, social and emotional wellbeing.

Levenvale has the most projects of any school.

They have been working on improving reading and literacy at the early levels and arithmetic.

Knoxland Primary has been developing an after school youth club to develop self-esteem, confidence and self-awareness. They’re also working on a family support service and targetting literacy in P4-7 and numeracy in P5 and P6.

St Patrick’s has used learning assistants with the sole purpose of boosting support for pupils from the most deprived backgrounds.

St Martin’s and St Kessog’s have both focused on mental, social and emotional wellbeing, while St Ronan’s has been working to use learning assistants more effectively and boost pupil self-esteem.

In the high schools, Vale of Leven Academy has used money to get parents more involved, set up clubs and information events about science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Dumbarton has used money for “targeted intervention” on literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing, as well as getting parents involved through cooking, fitness and mindfulness.

Our Lady and St Patrick’s has also focused on the overall health of pupils.