Tavernspite School had another fantastic Christmas fair which raised in excess of £2,000.

The staff and pupils would like to thank all who attended and the many helpers from the PTA who made it such an amazing event once again.

Another great factor was that Barclays through the help of Alison Pearce, who is also a parent at the school, secured match funding to the value of £750.

Said Barclays community manager, Kathy Brown: "Barclays is committed to local communities and through our match funding scheme and willing staff members we hope the money will make a real and lasting difference to the school."

Part of the money will go towards refurbishing the school library.

Tavernspite School librarians have a very proud ownership over the development of the library with plans to purchase a range of new fiction and non-fiction books. They are very keen to improve the seating areas of the library, with improved areas for different year groups.

Zoe Vinnard, one of the school librarians, said: "We want to make our library bright and exciting, so that everyone will want to visit it more and more."

Lauren Morgan also said: "Everyone should want to read - we all need to be good readers and as librarians, we want to create a place where everyone feels happy to read and enjoy books."

All classes throughout the school have also devoted significant areas of their classrooms to create reading areas. Pupils have been involved in the development of these areas which reflect the thematic approach within each class.

Deputy headteacher Sarah Arthur said: "We are really grateful to Barclays bank for this donation. The children are delighted as it will help to make many of their plans become a reality. They are really excited."