White boys from deprived backgrounds need action-packed stories about danger or sport to inspire them in lessons, Ofsted said today.

They do worse at school than any other group, which has fuelled concerns that white, working-class boys are becoming an educational underclass.

Advice on how schools should engage with such pupils was published today by Ofsted. It looked at 20 schools where white boys from low-income families had done comparatively well, and scrutinised how this had been achieved.

The education regulator recommended using rigorous monitoring but also teaching boys how to communicate and express their emotions. They needed active involvement in lessons, explicit targets to work towards and approachable teachers, the report said.

It added: “In the most successful literacy activities, teachers took great care to choose texts that interested the boys.

“These tended to focus on action-packed narratives which emphasised sporting prowess, courageous activities in the face of danger and situations - often historical - where the main characters had to overcome challenges.”

The report said schools that successfully raised the attainment of white boys from poor backgrounds had shared features. These included developing boys’ organisational skills, stressing the importance of perseverance, a curriculum structured around individual needs and listening to pupils’ views.

Emotional support was also important so boys could voice their feelings constructively, with one school appointing teaching assistants who kept a “mood watch” on the most vulnerable pupils.

Some schools asked boys to keep diaries on classwork and discuss them with their tutors.

Another school had success with boys, after asking a group that was being rewarded with cakes and soft drinks for doing well, why it was predominantly made up of girls.

One girl said: “It’s not that boys are not clever. They mostly are but they need quick results. You just have to be showing them the cakes.”

The report also recommended a sensitive approach towards problems at home that may interrupt pupils’ schooling - such as arriving late, or unfed - while not accepting these as an excuse for failure.

One primary school head teacher said: “Many of these boys are from single-parent families. Many start school ignoring what adults say.

“For some older boys, there can be a particular problem with their attitude to female staff. We try to overcome this by treating each other with respect and providing good male role models, where possible.”

However this is hard to achieve across many primary schools, where almost all teachers are women. Successful schools also encouraged boys to take part in sports teams and school performances.

A Government-funded report said earlier this year that white boys were making less progress at secondary school than any other group.

It claimed the gap between rich and poor was more polarised among white school children than any other group.

Boys and girls from the poorest white families suffer at school through lack of ambition, a low opinion of their own abilities and a failure to complete their homework, it claimed.

And recent official figures showed white teenagers were less likely to go to university than school leavers from other ethnic groups.

The gap was widest among boys from poor backgrounds, with just one in 20 going to university.

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