'˜Meteorite crash' fires imagination

The news was delivered by key stage two co-ordinator Julian Batstone in a special assembly.

The staged incident was designed to fire the children’s imagination, as part of the school’s big write programme.

Mr Batstone showed a video of the crash taken from CCTV cameras, which caused a mixture of concern and excitement. The children were then escorted to the playground to see for themselves.

Mrs Kathryn Stokes, junior school head teacher, said the whole day was a great success.

“Pupils from our nursery class, Little Lions, all the way up to year six, were so excited about the incident,” she said.

“We know that children succeed best when motivated and actively involved and challenged.

“Our staged meteorite crashing down into school certainly caught their imaginations. The discussions and writing flowed, and the finished work produced by our pupils was excellent.”

The crash site was taped off and staff wore special clothing to ensure safety. The children spotted something metal poking out of the meteorite and the teacher who went to investigate retrieved a circuit board.

Teachers set up the crash site and made the short film to encourage the pupils to think, research and, most importantly, write.

For the rest of the day, pupils wrote stories about where the meteorite might have come from, whether aliens were involved and, if so, what they might want.

The questions and ideas were endless. Older pupils also talked about the impact of fake news and not believing everything they see or hear online.