PUPILS at a Popley school have been at the forefront of languages research by taking part in a study with two universities.

Throughout the last academic year, a group of now Year 8 pupils at Everest Community Academy have participated in a joint University of Reading and University of Oxford study dubbed FLEUR, a study into unlocking French reading strategies.

The study aims to discover how phonics and reading strategies can influence students' understanding of longer French texts which is especially prevalent in the new languages national curriculum, where there is an increased emphasis on developing language skills.

The Everest students were visited twice by university researchers who conducted a series of questionnaires with the students both at the beginning and end of the year long study. Suzy Berte, modern foreign languages teacher at the school, said: "Towards the end of the study the students became increasingly independent at employing the strategies and were increasingly successful in gaining a full understanding of what they were reading.

"The results of the study are due to be published later this year and will influence the way that French reading is taught across the country, in the same way it has already positively influenced the teaching and learning of languages at Everest."