Police sealed off the site of the ‘UFO’ landing at Lord Deramore’s Primary, and stood guard nearby (Image: Stephen Lewis)
As children began to arrive at just after 8am, headteacher James Rourke was on hand with a megaphone to give reassurance.
“Please do not panic. Please do not panic. The situation is under control. I repeat, the situation is under control!” he said.
A scientists in a hazmat suit takes a close look at the ‘UFO’ (Image: Stephen Lewis)
The children did anything but panic, of course – sussing pretty quickly that this was a spoof.
They clustered around Mr Rourke excitedly, and were soon asking whether, if they DID find ET, they could keep him as a school pet.
Excited children wanted to know if they could keep the ET as a school pet… (Image: Stephen Lewis)
There was even more excitement as it was revealed that the school’s caretaker Ian Wyatt, who had ‘discovered’ the ‘UFO’, had been taken poorly after apparently coming into contact with green slime.
Speaking from the back of an ambulance, where he was ‘recovering’, Mr Wyatt said he had found the slime on the school’s door and windows – a sign the aliens had tried to break in.
Lord Deramore’s Primary caretaker Ian Wyatt ‘recovers’ in the back of an ambulance after ‘touching green slime’ (Image: Stephen Lewis)
The children checked to make sure Mr Wyatt was OK – but naturally, hearing mention of green slime, their faces lit up.
The ‘alien invasion’ was organised by Year Six class teacher Helen Smith – with the help of the York East and Micklegate policing team, Yorkshire Ambulance Service and members of Minster Lions (posing as the forensic scientists).
Mr Rourke said the staged event would be the start of a ‘week of creative writing, storytelling and lots of drama’.
– WATCH: video from the scene of the ‘UFO’ landing at Lord Deramore’s
“They’ll be writing newspaper reports – what will the headline be? – or I could be a story about where they think the actual alien has come from,” Mr Rourke said.
“It’s about making learning fun. It’s to capture the children’s imaginations, and get them interested in learning, which is what we love to do here.”
The ‘invasion’ had been kept secret from children, Mr Rourke added – so when they arrived this morning they were genuinely surprised.
Many were wide-eyed with excitement. ‘Something has landed!” shouted one little girl. Asked what she thought it was, she added, with a beaming smile, ‘I want it to be an alien!”
The school’s children were hugely excited by the arrival of the UFO. ‘I want it to be an alien!’ said one little girl (Image: Stephen Lewis)
Miss Smith admitted the whole exercise had taken months to organise.
Quizzed about where the UFO had come from, she said: “Do you mean actually really? Really from the Yorkshire Air Museum – but for the event …we don’t know …”
It’s not the first time there has been an extra-terrestrial event at the school.
A few years ago, an asteroid landed in the school grounds – just outside Mr Rourke’s office.
The ‘UFO’ – OK, so it was a drone borrowed from the Yorkshire Air Museum, but there’s no need to spoil the fun… (Image: Stephen Lewis)
That, too, was a spoof – though some parents were less quick to realise that than the children themselves.
“It was so interesting!” Mr Rourke said. “Several of our parents have Ph.Ds at the university – but even they thought it was real!”
Más historias