OUTSIDE experts are to be sent into Oxfordshire's under-performing schools in a new bid to improve GCSE results.

Oxfordshire County Council has decided that some local headteachers should get support in turning around their schools.

County Hall is planning to spend more than £1m to bring in successful headteachers from outside the area with proven records in transforming under-achieving schools.

The seconded 'superheads' are expected to move from school to school, acting as senior advisors to secondary school heads.

The news follows warnings from the county's new education chief that "complacency" in schools was holding back the speed of improvement, with some heads "in denial" about overall performance and consistently disappointing GCSE results.

The county council plans to spend an extra £350,000 a year for three years to transform its Raising Achievement Service and pay for an unspecified number of advisors.

The seconded experts will be expected to assist heads in drawing up "credible strategies, tailored to the specific needs of individual schools".

County Hall has also promised parents there will be "tight performance monitoring" to assess the pace of progress.

Ironically, the news came as new figures this week showed Oxfordshire's pupils are performing better than the national average at 14 in Key Stage Three tests. Across Oxfordshire, 78 per cent of pupils reached the level five bench in English and maths.

But the decision to bring outside help results from Oxfordshire persistently finishing bottom of league tables comparing GCSE results with similarly affluent counties.

The county council's cabinet member for schools improvement, Michael Waine, pictured, said: "We fully recognise that a significant number of our schools are already well focused on the county council's improvement agenda, and just need supportive encouragement.

"However, there are others that need challenge and support, and a small number that need intervention and targeted support.

"We need to challenge the often deep-rooted culture that a broad, rich curriculum and the achievement agenda are not compatible. Nothing could be further from the truth - our best schools achieve both.

"This culture is to be found in some governing bodies where there is no challenge, and occasionally, and more worryingly, where governors see no need to challenge.

"This is often coupled with low parental expectation."

Keith Mitchell, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: "This is about putting in strong supportive people, who can provide experience and focus for heads who need a little help. When you visit schools, the good ones always show evidence of strong management."

He said strong emphasis would be put on behaviour, curriculum and raising expectations, with schools held more to account for the delivery of improvements.

The failure to improve local schools resulted in Oxfordshire County Council being relegated from a four- to a three-star authority by the Audit Commission three weeks ago.

But the county received a boost this week when Cherwell School, in North Oxford, became the first secondary in the county to be rated "outstanding" by education watchdog Ofsted.

Oxfordshire education chief Janet Tomlinson, who recently delivered a damning verdict on the county's under-performing state schools, said the school had set the standard for all schools in Oxfordshire to follow.

Ms Tomlinson, who was recruited from Slough as the new director of children young people and families, is now overseeing a complete revamping of the council's school improvement programme.

The head of the service, Judith Morris, has now retired, with the department bringing in two leading educationalists - Paula Tansley and Sylvia Richardson - who worked together in Redbridge in East London.