STAFF and pupils at almost 100 East Lancashire schools have been awarded extra cash after the government highlighted their success in a national scheme.

In Blackburn with Darwen 23 schools added value to the education of their pupils to earn a financial reward while a further 22 Burnley schools were awarded more than £200,000 in the Department for Education and Skills' School Achievement Awards.

The schools receiving awards include nursery, infant, junior and high schools.

In Accrington, Ribble Valley, Pendle and Rossendale, a further 41 schools also won money by improving standards.

Lancashire's cabinet member for resources and Burnley central west County Coun Tony Martin personally congratulated Burnley teachers for winning the money and also praised the teachers from the other schools that also won the award.

Under the scheme, the DFE monitored pupils' progress since the key stage assessments of 1998 and checked the predictions for GCSEs and the final grades achieved.

They also checked progress made through the key stages and with nurseries looked at the pupils' abilities when starting school and progress made before joining primary school.

The governing body in each school will decide how the awards will be distributed to their members of staff.

County Coun Martin said: "I hope that the schools which have received an award this year feel rightly proud of their achievement.

"This is great recognition for the progress being made by so many of our schools, and I know that teachers and support staff in every one of our schools is dedicating themselves to improving life chances for all of Burnley's young people."

Peter Morgan, director of education & lifelong learning for Blackburn with Darwen, said the awards were tribute to the hard work of teachers and other school staff.

Burnley south west County Coun Irene Roberts added: "I am particularly pleased to see recognition for the hard work of all the staff and pupils who I know work so hard at Ivy Bank, Gawthorpe and Habergham High Schools.

"I know it is particularly difficult with such pressure on numbers in these three popular schools and it is a credit to them that they have managed to achieve these awards."