Almost 2,000 school children are set to benefit from a £900,000 boost to raise standards in primary schools in the most deprived areas of Oxfordshire.

Seven primary schools, including four in Oxford, will be able to bid for the new pot of cash by submitting plans on how they hope to improve pupil performance.

The primarys — Rose Hill in Oxford, John Henry Newman in Littlemore, Dashwood in Banbury, Windale in Blackbird Leys, St Francis in Cowley, Thameside in Abingdon and St Mary’s in Banbury — were chosen because they have the most deprived pupils.

Windale Community Primary School head Maureen Thompson said the cash could be used for school projects including hiring more teaching staff or improving IT facilities.

In 2007, the last year for which figures are available, the school scored among the lowest results in the county in national Key Stage Two tests for 11-year-olds in English, maths and science.

Only 34 per cent of its pupils achieved Level Four in maths, the expected level for the age group, against a county average of 77 per cent.

In addition, only 48 per cent reached the target in English against a county average of 82 per cent.

Mrs Thompson, who has been head at the 320-pupil school for three years, said: “This is great news. The local authority has really come up trumps with this.

“It’s more challenging running a school in a deprived area.

“Our parents try their very best but in socially deprived areas like ours the children don’t always have access to computers or the latest books in the home.

“The children are all well behaved and very responsive but we need to provide more for our children than schools in other areas.

“These children deserve a good start in their education and this will help us to raise standards in speaking and listening, English and maths.”

Mrs Thompson said the cash could also be used to extend the school’s outdoor learning programme which aims to bring classes to life by holding some lessons in its outdoor classroom or on its allotment.

St Francis Primary School exceeded the county and national averages in English, maths and science tests but often needs to focus more resources on literacy as about 20 per cent of pupils speak English as a second language.

Chairman of the governors Shane Clark said: “We’re very, very pleased with this.

“This is quite a deprived area and the money gives us the chance to look at reducing class sizes in some lessons and the possibility of developing online resources for children to use at home.”

County cabinet member for schools improvement Michael Waine said: “The extra funding will give a boost to schools facing the greatest challenges.

“By providing the schools with the chance to develop their own plans this will enable each program to best fit the pupils’ needs and local circumstances.”