MORE than 300 children in St Helens have seen their reading and mathematic skills improve in leaps and bounds with the help of a series of summer schools held over the six-week holiday period.

The extra curricular summer schools were the result of co-operation between primary and secondary school teachers with the aim of giving pupils about to start a secondary school an opportunity to achieve the national average standard in English and maths.

Eleven summer schools were held in nine high schools across St Helens, with Broadway and Newton High staging both literacy and numeracy courses. Pupils not yet at the national average in English were given 50 hours of tuition. In addition, 67 teachers took part as well as volunteer older pupils.

Councillor Andy Bowden, chairman of Education, said: "It is vital that we are able to provide our primary school pupils with the best possible support in preparing for the move to secondary school. This project is just one of the building blocks for further development once the children arrive in the high school.

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