STAR pupils across North Somerset will receive a share of a £65million fund for summer schools and out-of-hours lessons, the Government has announced. Plans for extra funding for the top 10 per cent of secondary school pupils in the country will be decid

STAR pupils across North Somerset will receive a share of a £65million fund for summer schools and out-of-hours lessons, the Government has announced. Plans for extra funding for the top 10 per cent of secondary school pupils in the country will be decided in the coming weeks.Ministers aim to ensure gifted state school pupils are given the same advantages as those in private education. This means students at Priory Community School and other North Somerset state secondary schools could soon be learning to speak Mandarin. But North Somerset Council's executive member for learning Councillor Peter Kehoe wants to make sure all pupils will benefit. He said: "All authorities need to work to assist the progress of gifted and able children but I hope the funding is not at the expense of others perhaps less able."Cllr Kehoe's concerns were echoed by the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, (NASUWT). The Government has said it will use a national pupils register established earlier this year to identify thousands of talented pupils.