Pupils were shocked when an alien spaceship crash landed on a school field at the beginning of a series of activities for science week.

Children at Boxted St Peter’s Primary School were ushered into the hall when they arrived this morning before the usual assembly was interrupted by a siren sounding.

Teachers staged an evacuation, taking the youngsters onto the school field to witness the crash site.

Staff dressed as experts were on hand to deem the site safe and allow pupils to explore the smoking crash wreckage from behind a close cordon, while a reporter and photographer from the East Anglian Daily Times added to the illusion of a serious news event.

Teachers are using the unusual happening as the launch pad for science week which began with a day of literacy as children wrote about what they had seen.

Head girl Isabel Nicolaou, 11, said: “It was a surprise when the siren went off and we saw what was on the field.

“It was very exciting and we needed to get to the bottom of it.”

Headteacher Tania Devereux said: “They were quite excited when we established it was safe. People were suggesting it was from outer space, and the children were looking around in case there was anything in the vicinity which was not human.

“We’ve never had to evacuate for a potential alien spacecraft before, this is a first.”

As well as doing creative writing and newspaper reports inspired by the events, the children also measured craters, did astronaut training and moon jumps on the first day of science week.

In the coming days they will be watching chemistry experiments with the help of St Helena School and viewing a planetarium.

Mrs Devereux added: “It was really pleasing to see how they reacted, and even those who were well aware of what was going on because they were older were prepared to suspend their disbelief.

“It has been a whole day of perfect behaviour and excitement, and we have some real whizz-bang stuff coming up too.”