A HUB of excellence for English is being launched in York to work with schools across the county in a bid to drive up teaching standards.

The Department for Education is investing £26 million in a number of English Hubs across the country. Only 32 made the final cut after a rigorous selection process.

The Yorkshire Endeavour English Hub is one of them and was picked by the Government because of its expertise in teaching reading.

The hub is attached to the Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust and its brief over the next two years will be to support schools across parts of Yorkshire, including York, Ryedale and the East Riding.

It is offering free resources, funding and professional development.

Executive head teacher Helen Ward said: “Following on from the extremely rigorous application process, we are delighted that Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust has been selected to take a lead role in supporting schools with the teaching of phonics, language and early reading skills.

"As a staff, we are always striving to improve and create the best learning environment and experiences for all of our children.

“We are eager to share approaches with others to ensure that more children can benefit from high quality provision in these areas.”

The Yorkshire Endeavour English Hub has recruited five specialist teachers, all outstanding practitioners themselves, who will receive additional training to further develop their expertise in teaching early language and reading in Reception and Key Stage 1.

This will enable them to work with at least 85 local primary schools to lead the creation of a network of excellent phonics teaching across the region.

Local schools can find out more about Yorkshire Endeavour English Hub by contacting Lisa Ponter, Hub Lead, at lponter@yeat.co.uk

* This is an amended version of an article that contained errors when it was originally published. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.