PRIMARY school students were rewarded for their efforts with tasty treats after a tough week of exams.

Year six pupils at St Gregory’s RC Primary School in Farnworth have joined youngsters across the country in four days of SATs testing covering reading, writing, maths and reasoning.

But, the school’s PTA and teachers felt that the youths, aged 10 and 11, should be rewarded for their efforts with a special visit from an ice cream van.

The excited students lined up in the school playground on a sunny afternoon yesterday as they were each dished out lollies and cones.

Jen Whiteside, a governor at St Gregory’s and a member of the PTA, said: “Things like this help the school become a community.

“There have been some negative things said about the school over the last few years but it’s nice to see the kids knuckle down and show that they are great kids.

“It’s not often the school gets to say thank you to the pupils but they are the main part of this school.”

Last year, St Gregory’s, in Presto Street, was recognised as a School of Sanctuary for staff’s efforts to make pupils feel safe and raise awareness of the plight of asylum seekers and refugees.