The forsythia blooming outside the door of the St Vincent de Paul primary support centre still has its price tag attached; inside, children turn the large pages of apparently unread books, sitting at tables unscuffed by use, on an immaculate carpet. “It’s like having Christmas come early,” says the centre’s manager, Elaine Byrne, pointing out the interactive whiteboard, the six PCs barely out of their boxes, the new circle-time beanbags.

Last month saw the inauguration of this “mini school”, set up in the grounds of St Vincent de Paul primary school. It is one of five in Liverpool, paid for by the Excellence in Cities scheme, and takes pupils from six partnership schools. The aim of the project is to provide support for that middle band of pupils who risk being overlooked - the lonely, the withdrawn, the often absent. Children who, in Elaine Byrne’s words, “float through the day”.

The five support centres will offer key stage 2 children from 60 Liverpool primaries half a term to boost their skills, learning and “sense of self”. “These children may have missed a lot of schooling, or are shy and find it difficult to mix appropriately,” says Elaine Byrne. “They might have low self-esteem or be going through a crisis at home. The whole thrust of the scheme is looking at barriers to children’s learning. It’s an opportunity for us to give them a focused intervention.”

From the outside, the St Vincent de Paul centre looks like a giant trailer home. The “demountable” is set in a corner of the school’s large playground. Inside is a large, open-plan classroom with ICT and library areas, a quiet room, a fully equipped kitchen and an office. Classical music plays softly in the background and the children - in the maroon, royal blue or forest green sweatshirts of several schools - work in an early morning atmosphere as muted as the British Library’s.

Although pupils follow the national curriculum, personal and social education takes pride of place. Elaine Byrne starts the day with a “how I feel” session, telling the children grouped on the carpet in front of her that she is tired after being woken in the night by a car alarm, but cheered up by the “wonderful reading” she has heard since getting to school.

The children demonstrate their own moods by positioning small figures on a large picture. One boy puts himself over the yellow moon, another silently places himself at the black bottom of the picture. “How can we make Jamie feel happy?” Ms Byrne asks the children. “Tell him a joke.” “Be kind.” One child arrived at school crying after a family quarrel but places herself quite high in the contentment picture, soothed by the intimacy and security here.

Elaine Byrne has a masters degree in special needs education and has been teaching for 11 years, the past two and a half of them with children who have moderate learning difficulties and behavioural needs. She is clearly cut out for this kind of highly focused work, holding the children spellbound with her low, intense voice, appearing the essence of calm and reliability with a dose of fun mixed in.

She took on the job in January 2001, consulting with primary heads about how the support centre would work before the first children were admitted last September. “I’m interested in giving children a real boost,” she says. “Individual education plans have to be very targeted, devised with the child’s teacher at the partnership school and the learning mentor. It’s a real partnership, and a new role.”

Every child here - the intake is 12 per half-term - has been set two or three small targets which are the subject of daily discussion. They include “making the right choices during playtime”, “following class routine”, “working independently”, “being a good friend”, “letting others speak, and raising my hand before I share ideas”, “making new friends”. Children who meet the targets - which are modified every week - win stickers and “golden time”, when they can choose which activities they do.

The children’s progress is tangible. “Look at this boy,” says teacher Ian Fitzgerald in mock amazement, as mental maths begins. “This boy couldn’t sit still, but he’s making wonderful strides.”

Later, in circle time, the children are put in groups to make bridges and windmills with their bodies. In the final week of their placement, their body language is all animation and happiness. “Three bridges in two minutes,” says Elaine Byrne. “Crikey, Mikey. What was the thing that made your bridge work?”

The four or five-week spell at the centre puts children into another educational world, a world where they are the subject of an intense positive focus from the two teachers and one classroom assistant; where they play hard and work hard. A “talent tree” celebrates children’s aptitudes and a ’“victory log” their achievements. “We focus on what has been achieved, not what hasn’t,” says Elaine Byrne.

Children are expected to grow while at the centre, turning like sunflowers in response to the input of affirmation, individual teaching and routes to self-knowledge. “The strategies are from day one, and we try to get the children to internalise them,” says Elaine Byrne. The intensity of the experience - the aim of which is to give children a new sense of identity - is sustained throughout each day. So the children do not mix with children from the main St Vincent de Paul school; they have packed lunches in the centre and use the playground at different times.

The centre takes in a different age band each half term - Years 3 and 4 or 5 and 6. Six partnership schools nominate pupils, with each guaranteed at least one place per session. Children are chosen by a panel of heads and centre staff, which tries to ensure a balance of sexes and personalities.

Parents are invited in before their children start, to see what it is all about. “Initially, there was an element of resistance from parents,” says Elaine Byrne. “Once they saw the centre, the resources and the staffing ratio, they jumped at the chance.” No children have been withdrawn, and attendance is over 95 per cent. Once the children are back in mainstream, they are monitored by learning mentors and class teachers; centre staff visit the children to keep up the ethos of self-development. “It’s no magic wand,” says Elaine Byrne. “The whole point is to give the child a noticeable boost that they can build on in school.”

In the afternoon, one group of children carries out a horticultural experiment, planting cress seeds in a range of conditions, while others repair to the kitchen with teaching assistant Paula Taggart to make shortbread. Everything in the centre looks bright, clean, cared for and cared about, from the clean, pale walls studded with “Viking jewellery” and “paper technology” masks, to the faces of the children.

For the staff, the work is hard. “It’s demanding, keeping up the positivity 100 per cent, every minute of the day and making references to targets all the time,” says Ian Fitzgerald. “But it’s refreshed my teaching. We’ve seen phenomenal differences in some of the children, and other kids in the yard ask if they can come to the centre. They see how the children here grow and mature.”

So far, everyone seems enthusiastic. “Far be it from me to praise the Government,” says Richard Marbrow, a Liberal Democrat assistant executive member for education on Liverpool city council, “but this is a great idea. These are children who could become disaffected at key stages 3 and 4. If we help them while they’re young, they won’t need the input later.”

Learning mentor Kathy Brizell, from Windsor community primary, says of a child she works with: “He had a very worried-looking face. He looks a lot younger now.” And St Vincent de Paul’s headteacher, Phil Stuart, says:“Children come back to the main school so much more at ease with themselves. It covers a panoply of need.”

For more details about the Liverpool support centres contact Excellence in Liverpool, tel: 0151 233 3000. Further information on Excellence in Cities at: www.standards.dfes.gov.ukexcellence