Hundreds of pupils at a primary school in Smethwick attempted to read their way into the record books.

A total of 219 youngsters from Shireland Hall Primary School in Edith Road gathered in their school hall in a bid to set a world record for storytelling and performance.

Their efforts were part of a huge borough-wide attempt which involved 11,000 children from 40 other schools. If successful the attempt will be included in the next edition of the Guinness Book of Records.

Simone Chesney, a Year Two teacher at Shireland Hall, said the children had really enjoyed performing the story together.

“They knew the story off by heart and loved performing it, especially doing all the actions,” she said. “We just hope we have broken the record and be in the next Guinness Book of Records. That would be great.”

All the youngsters performed an African story called The Papaya That Spoke.

The whole event, which was organised by Sandwell Literacy Champion Kevin Jeffery and the Sandwell Literacy Steering Group, was witnessed at the school by independent observers and recorded on camera.