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Leeds pupils turn alien investigators in hunt for Zonk
It seemed like a normal November day – it was cold, wet and windy as pupils arrived at school.
But as they walked into the playground of Leeds's Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Primary School, the children realised their day would be far from normal.
There were chunks of debris strewn across the grass, flashing lights wedged in the mud and smoke blowing about – an alien spaceship had crash landed.
Police and scenes of crime officers cordoned off the area, pupils were called in to investigate, and a note of apology from Zonk the alien was read to pupils in an emergency assembly.
"Sorry for the damage. We mean you no harm, we are kind and friendly. We have had a look around and now gone off in another spacecraft to visit the moon," said the note.
But appearances can be deceptive – and pupils were soon told that the alien spacecraft was NOT real – but part of a national schools strategy to encourage a creative curriculum.
"I've never seen anything like this before. I felt a bit scared. I thought there might be some aliens about," said Year 3 pupil Liam Meek, who believed he had seen the spaceship crash land during the night.
And fellow pupil Patrick Crowe, five, said he had seen lots of goo and gunge near the crash site, as well as smoke.
He said: "I felt really excited. When we saw someone dressed in white I thought it was an alien, but it was really someone looking for clues about the crash."
The idea for the simulated spaceship smash had come from assistant headteachers Lisa Hargreaves and Lisa Fairburn as part of a national strategy to encourage creative writing and a creative curriculum.
Pupils from reception to Year 6 are involved the Everybody Writes project, from becoming reporters and interviewing witnesses, taking photos, to making their own aliens and spaceships, and writing stories about the day.
Miss Hargreaves said: "There is such a buzz around school today, everyone has been so surprised and excited.
"It took a great deal of planning. The police were wonderful and played their parts perfectly, adding to the drama of the occasion."
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 20 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: East
