Parents have returned to the classroom at a Hartlepool primary school as part of an initiative to encourage their children to read more.

Around 180 parents attended the reading sessions with their children over two days at Hartlepool’s West Park Primary School and further regular events are now planned.

The Coniscliffe Road school recently announced a new leadership team with Headteacher Louise Sheffield and Deputy Headteacher Sam Marino both taking up their new posts at the start of the year (2025).

Headteacher Louise Sheffield said: “Reading is the gateway to the rest of the curriculum, and it was fantastic to see so many parents participating in the sessions.

“This is a new initiative which presented an opportunity for parents and children to spend some quiet time together in school sharing a culture for the love of reading.

“The feedback from parents was very positive and events like this form part of our partnership with parents to ensure we do the very best for West Park children.”

The children who took part in the reading sessions received a ‘Blue Peter’ book badge.

The school has also recently announced that it will be forging much closer links with its neighbouring secondary school – High Tunstall College of Science.

West Park is one of ten primary schools across Hartlepool, Teesside and County Durham under the umbrella of Ad Astra Academy Trust.

Andy Brown OBE, Chief Executive Officer of Ad Astra Academy Trust, commented: “Reading initiatives have been a high priority for the Trust over the last 18 months and we’ve been working closely with the Department for Education and two large North-East based trusts to ensure reading fluency and reading assessment are high profile in our schools.

Reading is a key life skill, and it is great to see parents and children working together in this way. Reading regularly brings huge benefits for children, and it is so important that our schools continue to develop new and innovative approaches to promote it.”

West Park Primary School was inspected by Ofsted last April and was judged to be a “good” school.

There are child places available at West Park in reception class (age 4/5), Year 1 (age 5/6) and Year 5 (age 9/10). For further information, contact the school on 01429 282090.

Picture Caption – Parents and children at one of the West Park Primary School reading sessions.

5 February 2025.