CHILDREN at an Egremont school have been praised for their “outstanding achievement” in this year’s phonics screening check.

MP Nick Gibb, minister for schools, has congratulated the school, as 100 per cent of the children achieved the pass mark, placing it in the top three per cent of primary schools in the UK.

Proud headteacher Russell Hardy said: “The results reflect the hard work of all the teaching staff and the close working relationship between teachers and parents that underpins all we do at Bookwell. As we do not follow a structured scheme, it allows our staff the freedom to tailor their teaching to support the needs of individual children, allowing us to deliver a broad and balanced curriculum. This method of teaching and curriculum ownership is also reflected in the outstanding Year 6 SATs results we gained in 2018.”