Pupils at Thaxted Primary School were "very excited" to hear that they had won this year's Essex Summer Reading Challenge cup.

Thaxted had the highest percentage of pupils taking part in the challenge out of all the schools in Uttlesford, and this was their first time winning the cup.

The children welcomed Janet Easterbrook from Saffron Walden and Thaxted Libraries to a special assembly to celebrate their achievement.

Pupils Micky Grout and Scout Burkle accepted the cup from Janet on behalf of the children.

Essex Libraries are now running a Winter Reading Challenge, which began on Saturday, November 25 and runs until Saturday, February 3 - with children invited to take part at any time.

Participants can join plucky penguin Lyra as she travels around the world, finding out about endangered animals.

Children can choose from 12 challenges, and once they have completed six of the challenges they will be rewarded with a certificate and a prize (while stocks last).

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The challenges will support literacy skills, confidence with reading and creativity, and many of the challenges are able to be completed within any of the 74 participating libraries.

More information is available on Essex Library Service's social media pages.

Thaxted Primary School in Bardfield Road is a mixed school for pupils age five to 11, and has around 260 pupils.