Port Vale hosted an awards presentation for students from ten local primary schools on Wednesday in partnership with Staffordshire University.
The pupils had taken part in the Able and Talented Day held at Vale Park in March in conjunction with the club’s official learning partner.
Based on the workshops they took part in, the children were asked to write about their experiences and the three best accounts from each school were rewarded with a trophy.
Chris Taylor, the club’s Head of Education, said: “Both Staffordshire University and Port Vale are keen to support local schools as they inform their students and parents about the value of literacy in the workplace.
“We are already in discussion with the University about other major projects we can run together for young people in the north of the city.”
Deborah Sanderson, Staffordshire University’s Head of Graduate and Business, added: “It’s really important to reward the children in this way because we know there is a bit of an issue with literacy in the area.
“I think to encourage children to want to write descriptive stories, to have different experiences and also to have a taste of university and write comments about it is very useful.”
The afternoon in the Chris Bayley Lounge was also used to educate the students about the opportunities available to them in higher education.
Deborah Sanderson said: “We’ve been asking the children what the understand about university and just to give them an idea of what happens at university because it is very different from school.
“We have also been informing them that there is a whole range of choices available to students and staff.
“I think people are quite surprised by the various subjects you can study at university.”