A TRIP to see Leeds United was more than just a game for Haworth Primary School pupils.

The 20 year five and six children watched the live match and toured the pitch as part of their Premier League Reading Stars programme.

The programme, founded in 2003, brings together the Premier League, the National Literacy Trust and 1,500 schools who want to motivate their pupils to read or write.

Children carry out 10 weekly football-related challenges, reading, match reports, learning about opponents, examining players’ key statistics and learning about their opponents.

Class teacher Emma Firth said the pupils learned vital skills such as skimming for content, finding key information, grouping information, and questioning skills for understanding.

She said: “We organised the match day experience to allow the children to feel the atmosphere of a match, with the follow up work of looking at different match reports and styles of writing.

“I will happily run the Reading Stars programme next year as it has had a massive impact on confidence for the children.

“The improvements in my sessions have been brilliant and their behaviour at the Leeds match was exceptional.”