Deputy First Minister John Swinney made a visit to Clydebank High School yesterday to mark the announcement of another £2million in funding to the area, granted to help close the attainment gap.

Now in its fourth year, the Scottish Government’s Scottish Attainment Challenge programme has granted the cash to West Dunbartonshire for initiatives targeted at children affected by high levels of deprivation.

West Dunbartonshire Council has been allocated £13.8m from the programme to date.

And Clydebank High School is one of the beneficiaries of the funding, with the new cash boost allowing the school to continue a number projects supporting children and their families from deprived backgrounds.

The special ministerial visit began with a warm welcome from pupils and members of staff, including head teacher Jacqui Lynam.

Mr Swinney, who is also Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, was greeted by a group of S2 pupils at the school’s main entrance, with the teenagers getting the opportunity to speak with the Deputy First Minister before he embarked on a tour of the building.

Guided by the school’s head girl and boy, Paige Dunlop and Michael Irwin, he first dropped into a lesson in the English department, observing an S2 class and taking time to speak with pupils as they worked on a creative writing project.

The Deputy First Minister then sat in on a lively S1 Design and Manufacture lesson, in which, unphased by the media cameras, the pupils showed off their sketching knowledge and skills in a Pictionary-style interactive game.

As pupils were set their homework, Mr Swinney joked that he would “send his in”.

He was then guided to the pupil support department, where he visited the nurture room – meeting youngsters involved in the school’s nurture programme, providing support in literacy and numeracy.

Funding from the programme in previous years has allowed Clydebank High to set up, among other projects, a multi-agency hub, helping young people and their families to access extra support to help them overcome problems that might be stopping them from achieving well.

During the visit, Mr Swinney remarked that the Scottish Attainment Challenge was seeing “substantial progress” going into its fourth year, and that the attainment gap is “showing early signs of being closed.”

Mr Swinney said: “This investment is starting to make a real impact. In West Dunbartonshire inspectors found that the attainment of children and young people is improving, with significant progress in the attainment of young people living in SIMD areas one and two.”

Also present to meet Mr Swinney were West Dunbartonshire Council’s chief education officer Laura Mason, convener for educational services Councillor Karen Conaghan, and vice-convener for educational services Councillor Caroline McAllister.

Cllr Conaghan said: “It’s been a really positive visit. It’s fantastic to have a high-profile visitor seeing how we put it [the funding] into action and how positive an experience it is.

“Our core offering is good. There are a lot of families that do face a lot of challenges, and this extra money allows us to take it up to a new level and help the children to reach their full potential – it’s really, really important.”

A spokeswoman for West Dunbartonshire Council said: “West Dunbartonshire welcomes the additional funding made available through the Scottish Attainment Challenge. We have many dedicated staff working with partners on a variety of projects to help close the poverty related attainment gap and make a difference to our young people.

“With the vision of our educational staff and the support of Scottish Government funding we have been able to introduce projects which address challenges at a local level.

“The difference these approaches are making is evident in our schools and centres and this additional funding will ensure our plans can progress further and support even more young people to attain and achieve.”