PREGNANT schoolgirls in Bolton are doing better academically, a national survey has revealed.

The level of support given to the expectant mothers is believed to be part of the reason why they are achieving good results.

The credit for this is down to the work of Florence Hatton, the town's first teenage pregnancy reintegration officer, who has been in her post for 12 months.

Mrs Hatton works with all the secondary schools in the borough to make sure all pregnant schoolgirls receive the same level of support.

She also helps to draw up individual timetables for girls who become pregnant.

Girls can either be educated full-time at the Young Mum's Unit in Pilkington Street, remain in mainstream school or split their week between their regular school and the unit.

Last week Bolton was singled out in a national survey compiled by the Young Women's Christian Association for providing outstanding levels of service to pregnant school girls. A spokesman said Bolton was highlighted partly because it has a reintegration officer.

Mrs Hatton said: "Before there was a reintegration officer the support girls received from their school depended on which school they went to. Some schools didn't want them in and wanted to send them to the unit.

"Some schools were very supportive and allowed the girls to stay. Part of my job is to make sure that they have a common approach to make sure every girl in Bolton gets a good deal. Schools are now moving more towards inclusion."

She said Harper Green and Withins were two particular examples which offered good levels of support to pregnant pupils.

Mrs Hatton meets with pregnant schoolgirls every month to check on how they are getting on and liaises with schools.

Mrs Hatton also tries to arrange for expectant mums to leave classes a couple of minutes early to avoid crowded corridors, or she sometimes arranges for pregnant girls who are sitting exams to have comfier chairs or separate rooms to study to avoid feeling self conscious.

She says girls who become pregnant do tend to do better than if they had never got pregnant, down to the high levels of extra support they receive.

Girls are given free taxis to get to the Young Mum's Unit and are taught in smaller classes in comfy informal settings. They have access to facilities so they can make themselves cups of tea and toast when they want refreshment.

They also have individual packages drawn up for them so they are studying the subjects that are right for them.

Half of Mrs Hatton's time is spent teaching in the Young Mum's Unit. This year, she is hoping to establish a network whereby girls can get together and offer each other some peer support, especially those who have opted to stay in mainstream schools.

Mrs Hatton agreed it was "ironic" that girls did better when pregnant, but said it was important to invest in the education of these girls as "educated mothers have educated babies."

"We still tell the girls they should still have the same aspirations and hopes and dreams as before - it just might take them a little longer to achieve them. We tell them not to drop their life expectations."

A teacher in Bolton for the whole of her working life, Mrs Hatton has the credibility and respect to work closely with schools. She was deputy head at Westhoughton High School for 14 years, and has previously been head of modern languages at Withins School.

"Schools trust me not to ask them to do anything unreasonable."

Mrs Hatton has long had connections with young mum as she has been Chairman of the Young Mum's unit management committee for many years. She says she is disappointed by the discrimination pregnant girls can receive.

She said schools can often refuse to teach girls who become pregnant whereas when schools want to exclude a pupil who has assaulted a teacher they have to go through lengthy legal procedures.

Mrs Hatton said pregnant girls do get bullied at school but generally speaking the bullying does tend to blow over after a couple of weeks and positive action to stop the bullies does tend to sort the problem out.

"After a couple of weeks it's old news. Children are far more accepting of these things than adults."

Mrs Hatton described the girls who attend the unit as being better mothers at age 15 than she was at 25 and she said that many of them are extremely motivated.

She said: "There is no point being condemnatory. We think it's happened, let's just help them get on with their lives."

One girl managed to achieve six GCSE C grades during the summer, two of the Cs were achieved from exams she sat on the labour ward. All are generally determined to make sure their babies do not have children young themselves.

Last year, there were 15 young mums and pregnant girls attending the Young Mums Unit and 15 who remained in mainstream school. This year, so far, there are six girls in the unit and one in mainstream school.

The number is expected to go up as the year progresses.

The majority of girls Mrs Hatton works with are in Year 11 and are either 15 or 16. The youngest girl to attend the unit was aged 12 - but Mrs Hatton said this was very much the exception to the rule.