"DON'T ever write off a child. There's a pearl inside each and every one of them if you only just try and find it."

Margaret Knowles should know. She works with some of the most troubled children in the area.

News headlines over the last few weeks have highlighted problem children and in some cases teachers have threatened to walk out rather than teach the youngster.

But there has never been a case like that in East Lancashire.

Why?

Mainly due to the little-known Home Tuition Service.

Margaret is a co-ordinator for the service covering the Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley areas.

The service was set up by the county council in 1990 to provide education for youngsters who can't attend school for a variety of reasons.

They help children from as young as four right through to 16 years old. It may be a pregnant teenager, a school troublemaker, a terminally-ill child . . . the list goes on. Margaret said: "They come from all walks of life and each one of them is different, almost maverick.

"Some of the youngsters will come to the centres with very negative attitudes. The pregnant girls think their life is over, disruptive pupils believe they will never succeed in life. But once they come here, they're given work to do that they can handle and to see the change in them is incredible.

"They become positive towards life and education and usually go on to achieve at school.

"I realise that for some of them, this is the Last Chance Saloon. If they don't do well here the chances are they won't succeed anywhere."

Margaret says those on the scheme see the tutors as an extension to their family.

Teachers often receive "thank you" cards after a child leaves them to go back to school, as well as invitations to weddings and requests to become godparents. Margaret said: "We have a lot of respect for each other. We never try to get the children to make excuses for what they have done. We just want them to say 'OK, I shouldn't have done that but now I'm going to get on with my life.'

"Last year, 15 pregnant girls or girls who had just had babies passed GCSE examinations.

"Another girl who couldn't attend school because she had ME later went on to Cambridge.

"Obviously they're not all as successful but at least they leave here with a sense of pride, knowing that they do count and are not just a waste of time.

"I don't believe there is another service in the country that can match ours.

"Every member of staff wants the best for these children, who 20 or 30 years ago would have been forgotten and thrown on the scrap heap.

"Someone once said to me that no child should be out of school but if they are the best place to be out of school is in Lancashire."

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