CHILDREN from a Guisborough primary school have been enjoying a week of activities devoted to reading.

Belmont Primary School's Literacy Week has seen the children writing and performing plays, editing books and recording poetry on to video and audio tape. The aim of the week is to boost the children's reading abilities.

They have been helped by teachers, parents, governors, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Ashok Kumar and local children's author and illustrator Rowena Sommerville.

Yesterday, staff and pupils celebrated the end of the week by dressing up as characters from their favourite stories.

Dr Kumar said: "This is a great way to make books and literature accessible and entertaining to young children. It means that books, language and writing become central to children's lives instead of simply being peripheral."