GREAT Sankey pupils become winners of a national reading award, competing with more than a thousand schools across the country.

Sankey Valley St James Primary School joined the competition ran by Reading Solutions UK, which was searching for the school with the most dedicated readers.

The company run an online reading development programme which focuses on helping improve students reading fluency, stamina and comprehension - a programme which has been used by Sankey Valley for three years.

Teacher Jennifer Carter said: “Our children love reading, but we wanted to develop that further by giving them the opportunity to immerse themselves in the range of texts that Reading Plus offers.

“This class is very competitive, so we wanted to combine their love of reading with some healthy competition.”

As a reward for winning the competition the school received a special visit from beloved award-winning children’s author, Christina Gabbitas.

“The children thoroughly enjoyed the visit from Christina. All the children were motivated, inspired, and loved participating in the workshops.

“They were really excited to meet an author, and after the visit, many children started writing their own short stories.”

Christina said she ‘thoroughly enjoyed’ her visit to meet the pupils at Sankey Valley St James.

“All the children were lovely at Sankey Valley. The day was very positive, with both children and teachers enjoying the sessions.”

The author and poet has organised an Children’s literature award ceremony this year which will be sponsored by Reading Solutions UK.

Clair Freeman, from Reading Solutions UK, said: “We strive to find new ways to help motivate students to get the most out of our programme.

“We are thrilled that the children of Sankey Valley enjoyed the competition and thank Christina for getting involved. We look forward to seeing who the next winners will be.”