EIGHT youngsters have be-come educational researchers in an experiment to boost the reading age of fellow pupils.

The Year 5 students at Bratton Primary School will give half of the school's Year 1 class extra help to boost their reading skills over the next 12 months, while the other half of the class continue reading as normal.

The project was made possible by a £1,300 grant from Wiltshire County Council and is believed to be among the first in the county to use children as researchers.

Regular checks on reading ages will be made throughout the year to assess progress and a final report will be published in the Wiltshire Journ-al Of Education next March. Headteacher Andy Bride-well said: "Each of the older children is going to help two younger children. At the moment they are carrying out assessments and then for the next year they will listen to them read and see what improvements they make.

"The other children in Year 1 will still be getting as much input from parents and teachers so we are not reducing their input, but increasing that of the others."

Parents will be able to keep track of progress through school newsletters and Mr Bridewell hopes they will be inspired by the pupils' efforts.

He said: "We want to say to parents if you put in that little bit extra every week it can really help."