RAMSBURY Primary School has been selected as a hub of excellence for English and will now work with other schools across the county to drive up teaching standards.

The school is among 32 schools across the country picked by the Government for the English Hub scheme because of its “expertise in teaching reading and to support schools in their surrounding areas.”

Joanna Price, headteacher at Ramsbury, said: “I am absolutely delighted that the excellence in English at Ramsbury Primary School has been recognised by the Government.

"As a staff, we are always striving to improve and create the best learning environment and experiences for all of our children.

"As an English Hub, our specialist teachers will receive additional training to further develop their expertise in teaching early language and reading in Reception and Key Stage 1, enabling them to continue to provide outstanding support for the children at Ramsbury as well as working with up to 170 local primary schools to lead the creation of a network of excellent phonics teaching across the region.”

The school will pave the way for English in primary schools in the county, after a recent Wiltshire Council report showed that pupils were behind national targets for writing in the county.

Standards of writing skills for seven year olds put Wiltshire in the bottom quarter of the league table, but reading levels are currently meeting national requirements.

Speaking during a children’s select committee meeting last month, Jayne Hartnell, head of school effectiveness said: “We have to help our schools work with English and maths hubs with implementing the new curriculum that has now come in.

"We have to do that to make sure children get the very best crack of the whip.

“We want to ensure teaching and learning are thoroughly good to make sure children achieve everything they can and that is something we are committed to doing.”

The £26.3m national English Hub project will see the school’s staff receive extra training and then give workshops to other teachers to improve phonics, communication, language and literacy across 170 other primary schools. Struggling schools will spend more time with Ramsbury, which is Ofsted graded outstanding.