SCHOOLS in Aberdeen have been advised they can use a new fund for closing the poverty-related attainment gap to pay for football training for pupils.

The “health and wellbeing" interventions, costed at between £4,000 to £16,000, were circulated to headteachers as guidance by Aberdeen City Council.

However, an education source said: "Schools are expected to use their extra money to help pupils from low-income backgrounds with reading and writing. I'm not sure if keepie-up sessions will help.”

Under the Government’s Pupil Equity Funding policy, £120 million has been given to headteachers to help reduce the poverty-related attainment gap.

The gap is particularly marked in literacy and numeracy and Cabinet Secretary John Swinney believes heads, rather than councils, are best placed to make the spending decisions.

However, fears have been expressed that schools may not have the expertise to ensure the money is spent to achieve this end.

The Sunday Herald revealed recently that heads in North Lanarkshire suggested the extra cash could be used for dodgeball and bowls.

Guidance from Aberdeen council shows that schools have been told they can buy-in one of three football interventions by Aberdeen FC Community Trust.

According to the document, the AFCCT can provide early-morning football coaching and breakfast sessions for £8,000, with the effectiveness of the initiative being measured in terms of attainment, attendance and exclusion data.

A “school of football” course, which costs £16,000, uses the sport as a tool to “promote key values”, personal qualities and the “school ethos” via positive role models.

It involves up to five one-hour weekly sessions during school curriculum time for targeted pupils and is also aimed at promoting attendance.

A cheaper option, RedStart, costs schools £4,000 and is designed to promote physical, social, mental and emotional wellbeing through football.

According to the council two schools have opted for “school of football”, while another chose “footie tea”, which is like a breakfast club but for after hours.

Two schools are benefiting from a variety of resources, including AFC breakfast clubs and Redstart, and another school is receiving after-school sessions. The AFCCT is the partner charity for Aberdeen Football Club.

Asked for evidence showing how football-related activity can help close the poverty-related attainment gap, a council spokesperson said: “Six of our schools are participating in interventions supplied by Aberdeen FC Community Trust. The Trust costed the options as is normal with any supplier. The activities are relatively recent so we have not yet had the opportunity to evaluate the extent of the football-related activities on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. However, we will, of course, be carrying out evaluations at an appropriate time”.

The spokesperson added: “In some instances, football has been identified as a positive means of ensuring the health and wellbeing of pupils, increasing attendance and reducing exclusions. These aims fit in with the five areas identified for closing the gap; attainment and achievement, attendance, exclusions, participation and engagement.”

An AFCCT spokesperson commented. “Our sessions in schools are interventions and not just basic football sessions. They are designed to support and improve a pupil's aspirations, attitudes and behaviours.”

He also provided data which he said showed the improvements made by participants in the projects.

However, Scottish Tory MSP Liz Smith said: “There must be a clear focus on improving literacy and numeracy and action to narrow the attainment gap.

“That is the whole purpose of PEF and so it is incumbent upon all headteachers that they are able to demonstrate to parents, pupils and staff that any initiative they undertake has exactly that focus and that they can measure the outcomes.

“Recent reports suggest that that focus has not been applied in some local authority areas and that the money instead is being used to plug gaps in other areas of local authority education budgets.”