CHILD psychologists are being brought into a borough's schools in a bid to pull up performance in key tests and exams.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has unveiled plans to pump £1.3million of Government money into a pilot project -- one of the first in the country -- which will run across the borough's primary and high schools.

The money will also be used for speech therapists, behavioural experts and other professionals to work with youngsters perceived to be at risk of falling behind with their work or playing truant.

The move comes as Blackburn with Darwen Council bids to improve performance in Key Stage 3, which covers the curriculum youngsters study from the age of 11 to 14.

Performance in those tests dipped in three of the core subjects -- English, Maths and Science -- during the local government year 2002/03, the timescale used to draw up the performance indicators which are used to assess overall performance.

In English, the percentage of pupils achieving the required level in English by the age of 14 fell from 57 per cent to 56.4 per cent between 2001/02 and 2002/03. The target for 2002/03 was 63 per cent and that rises to 69 per cent over the coming year.

In Maths, 58.7 per cent of pupils reached the required level in 2002/03, down from 59.2 per cent the previous year. The target for 2002/03 was 64 per cent and for the coming year is 73 per cent.

And in Science, 54.7 per cent of youngsters achieved the Government target level in 2002/03, down from 55.6 per cent in 2001/02. The target for 2002/03 was 60 per cent and for 2003/04 is 65 per cent.

It is only in ICT that pupils recorded an increase, up from 50 per cent to 53.4 per cent, compared to a target of 65 per cent.

Primary schools will work with the specialists to identify youngsters who may be prone to problems when they move to secondary school, while youngsters exhibiting signs of problems in high school will also be given extra support.

If family problems are the cause of poor behaviour or attendance, other council departments may be brought in to assist.

Cath Hitchen, assistant director of education (inclusion and access) said: "A lot of problems start if the transition from primary school to high school isn't smooth, and if we can work with youngsters identified as being at risk of behavioural or attendance problems before the problems start, we should see better attendance, better performance in class and better results ultimately.

"Exclusion from school and truancy used to be a problem mainly for Years 10 and 11, but it has worked its way down the school to the lower end, which can, in part, be attributed to the extra pressures youngsters face."

A total of 9.3per cent of all school days are lost each year. This includes all absences and the council wants to reduce it to around 5 per cent.