A year-long drive to increase achievement in Oxfordshire schools, particularly at GCSE, has reached the half-way point but is it inspiring people to get behind their local schools?

As pupils prepare to file into examination halls next month, parents and businesses are being urged to do their bit to improve results, by signing up tothe county council's Learning Matters campaign.

Oxfordshire's GCSE results improved for the first time in four years last year, with 54.4 per cent of the county's pupils achieving five or more grade A* to C passes at GCSE, in line with the national average for state schools of 54.7 per cent.

But the authority missed its pass rate target of 59.5 per cent last year and lags behind all similar authorities.

The Learning Matters campaign brings different initiatives to raise achievement together, including revision and coursework workshops for pupils and their parents.

An awards ceremony is planned this summer to reward individual pupils and schools for their efforts.

According to Judith Morris, the council's head of educational effectiveness, the message that the community is the key to raising achievement is starting to filter through. She said: "Learning Matters has done important work in raising awareness about the need to improve educational achievement in Oxfordshire, particularly at GCSE.

"Now we want more people to get involved in the campaign, through taking part in activities to support children and young people of all ages. It's possible to make a huge difference to a child's learning, through a relatively small time commitment."

Jonathan Dennett, deputy headteacher at Larkmead School, in Abingdon, said: "Parents are concerned that their children do well and this campaign gives them useful advice on how they can improve grades by helping with homework and revision.

"Anything that raises the profile of learning and makes people think about ways they can help has got to be a good thing."

But the campaign is not just for secondary schools.

David Burrows, headteacher of Ladygrove Park Primary School, in Didcot, which has hosted a maths event for parents as part of the campaign, said: "We felt it was important to get the support of parents in helping their children to do better at maths. They did find it useful, because a lot of it is different from the maths they used at school."