CHILDREN from all over Uttlesford came together to receive letters and book tokens in reward for achievement at school.

CHILDREN from all over Uttlesford came together to receive letters and book tokens in reward for achievement at school.

Four primary schools, Little Hallingbury, Wimbish, Birchanger and Katherine Semar Infants in Saffron Walden, each put forward six children to receive awards in various categories.

These were literacy, numeracy, science or ICT, sport, music and one of the school’s choice.

As well as receiving their rewards in front of an audience of their parents and teachers, the award-winning children also enjoyed a buffet and got a chance to see inside Uttlesford District Council chamber.

Each child was presented with a congratulatory letter from council chairman Cllr Sue Schneider and a �20 book token, paid for using funds secured by the West Essex Partnership, a collaboration of the local strategic partnerships (LSPs) from Uttlesford, Harlow and Epping Forest councils.

Cllr Howard Rolfe, chairman of Uttlesford’s LSP, Uttlesford Futures,presented each child with their reward.

He said: “This initiative, which recognises children’s achievements and rewards their hard work, has been met with a good response from schools in the district.

“Having had a chance to visit some of the schools personally to make presentations, it was a great pleasure to be able to welcome the children back to the council offices with their parents and teachers to give them their rewards at this event.

“The partnership will hopefully be able to carry out similar initiatives in the future. It’s a great example of how working together with other councils and LSPs can bring about worthwhile programmes to benefit our community.”

Every district and borough in the country has a local strategic partnership (LSP), led by the local council. It is a body comprising the district/borough council and representatives from other public and voluntary sector bodies, including the police and fire services and the NHS. LSPs are set up so these organisations can work together on projects that they would not be able to deliver on their own. In this district, the LSP is called Uttlesford Futures.