Schools minister Nick Gibb MP with pupils Zen, Jamie, and Ortanse, all 7, and headteacher Simon Atkinson. Picture: Polly Hancock (Image: Archant)
Schools reform minister Nick Gibb praised pupils during a visit to a Hampstead Parochial School this morning, after nearly all passed a government reading test.
The MP offered his congratulations in person at Hampstead Parochial School, in Holly Bush Vale, after it was ranked in the top 5 per cent in the country for children passing the “phonics check”.
The check tests the reading abilities of pupils in Year 1.
Mr Gibb, minister of state for school reform, listened in on phonics lessons and quizzed children on which books they were reading.
He said: “Reading is the foundation for later success.
“There’s a direct correlation between success in primary school and educational success later in life.”
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