A secondary school has become the first in London to be awarded 'model school' status.

Woodside High School in White Hart Lane, Wood Green was awarded the status to recognise its commitment to student progress in literacy.

More than 600 pupils at Key Stage 3 have improved their reading using accelerated reading software.

The software allows schools to understand each student’s individual reading level and matches pupils with suitably challenging books that will interest them.

Once students have finished reading the chosen book they take a quiz which helps teachers monitor how well they have comprehended a book and when they are ready to move on to a more challenging title.

The award, from Renaissance Learning, recognises success in using the software effectively and is awarded when classes achieve 75 per cent of their end-of-year goals early.

Deputy head of English at Woodside High School Waheeda Simjee said: “Literacy has been a major focus over the last few years and the Accelerated Reader programme has been at the heart of it.

“Over 80 per cent of our students have English as an additional language and it’s critical for us to engage and accelerate the growth of their reading.

“It’s really exciting to be the first secondary school in London to be awarded ‘model school’ status; and we hope to continue this tremendous success."