SCOTLAND cannot close the attainment gap between rich and poor pupils just by working in schools, experts have warned.

Academics and charities said a joined up approach across a range of services was the only way to tackle the impact of deprivation.

The call comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched the Scottish Attainment Challenge in February 2015 focused on improvements in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing amongst the country’s most disadvantaged pupils.

The challenge is funded through the £750m Attainment Scotland Fund targeted on supporting pupils in the local authorities which have the highest concentrations of deprivation.

However, Professor Sue Ellis, a literacy specialist at Strathclyde University, said there was no single cause of the attainment gap and there was therefore no single solution.

Writing in The Herald she said: “It is easy to understand why the debate around improving the performance and prospects of children from Scotland’s poorest areas is often focused on our classrooms.

“Education will, of course, help close the gap, but our teachers and schools will never close it on their own. That is because the gap is not caused by education but by poverty.

“Schools can make a difference to the trajectory of a child’s life, but any intervention will be more powerful if it also addresses the complex causes of poverty.”

Ms Ellis called on support for a partnership between educators, local authorities, charities, children, families and communities of the sort championed by the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland, which represents 25 charities.

Its #plan4children campaign is urging candidates in May’s council elections to work with them to plan and deliver the most effective children’s services.

She added: “The challenge for councils is to locate the charities delivering the most efficient, effective work and then work out how to roll it out as an extended partnership.”

Martin Crewe, director of Barnardo’s Scotland, which is part of the coalition, said the work of charities to supporting young people and their families was crucial.

He said: “It is natural that so much of the debate around the attainment gap focuses on what happens inside our classrooms.

“However, what happens before and beyond the school gates can be even more important in ensuring every child has every chance to learn.”

Research suggests 15-year-olds from Scotland’s poorest postcodes are up to three years behind youngsters from better-off families in science, maths and reading.

Coalition director Annie Gunner Logan, added: “There are few issues more important to our communities than improving the lives and futures of children.

“Our campaign is a call for councils to work with charities and voluntary organisations to plan and deliver strategies to provide the support crucial to many families.”

CCPS members support more than 150,000 children, young people and families, employ just under 6000 staff and provide public services worth around £150 million.