A PRIMARY school in Blackburn is named among the top 3% of schools in England for performance in phonics tests.

All pupils from the Olive School, on Meins Road who took part in the Year 1 phonics screening assessment last summer reached or exceeded the pass mark.

The phonics screening check is a short assessment of pupils’ phonics skills at the end of Year 1.

Phonic decoding is seen as one of the most widely recognised and successful approaches to teaching young children to read.

The minister of state for school standards Nick Gibb described the performance as an “outstanding achievement".

In a letter congratulating the school on its pupils’ achievement Nick Gibb MP wrote: “Your success in teaching phonics means your pupils are developing a firm foundation in reading, from which they can become increasingly fluent and develop a lifelong love of reading.”

The free school's result vastly exceeds the national average in the 2017 test, where just over 81% of children met expected standards in phonics decoding.

Julie Bradley, Executive Principal of The Olive School, Blackburn, said: "This result highlights the firm grounding they all have in the early decoding skills necessary to develop their reading ability."