More than 70 children from Catterick Garrison’s Le Cateau Primary School were invited to The Wensleysdale School to solve the mystery of the murdered IT manager, using a series of scientific processes.
The aim of the event was to spark interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects.
The children were split into groups and were given the scenario of the murder and introduced to the suspects, who included the headteacher, teaching staff, and the caretaker.
The children were then taken through a series of workshops, each designed to help them gather evidence to solve the crime.
The workshops included assessing the crime scene, analysing fibres, interviewing suspects, analysing emails and fingerprints, and performing a flame test.
In the afternoon, the groups shared their findings and the culprit was revealed.
Julia Polley, headteacher at Wensleydale said: “This was such a wonderful experience for the children.
“They worked together, investigated, problem-solved and undertook scientific investigations – and had a lot of fun doing it.
“Activities like these enable children to see the real-life applications of the subjects they study at school, and can ignite an interest that may not have been there before. They’re a lot of work to put together, but well worth the effort.”
