Super sleuth students at an east Suffolk school were faced with a criminal mystery to unravel after a teacher was found ‘dead’ at his desk.

Framlingham College’s CSI Enrichment Day saw Year 9 pupils presented with the case of Mr Tinker, the headmaster of Saxtead College who was found “slumped at his desk next to a suspicious-looking half-drunk coffee mug”.

Groups of students worked throughout the day, cracking codes, translating foreign notes and listening to suspects’ interviews to identify the murderer and their motive.

“The purpose of the event was to immerse the students in a scenario that would really test their thinking skills and their ability to work together,” said a school spokesman.

“It took great resilience to keep focus and concentration with teachers not there to provide all the answers and the year group responded admirably.”

Six of the students correctly identified the killer and wrote up their case notes for deadline. “It was fantastic to see a cross-curricular event go so well and the students will have learned a lot about themselves too,” the spokesman added.