Schoolchildren have been solving the mystery of the 'big impact'.

Youngsters at Stoke Fleming Primary School were confronted with a trio of mysterious burnt circles and unusual object scattered across their school environmental garden as a forerunner to their new topic on space.

And they were encouraged to use their imagination and investigative skills to sort out what had happened.

The children were able to take a closer inspection of the site – studying the evidence, making notes, measuring the objects and interviewing possible witnesses.

Michael Rolls, the executive head teacher, was on hand to provide pupils with a detailed witness account of when the strange objects and large circles appeared, which he said occurred just before 7.30pm the previous day.

The 'mysterious happenings' turned out to be a 'big impact' event planned by teachers Vicky Harris and Andrea Hall to encourage questioning, imagination and wonder before launching their space topic.

'It's been very exciting,' said Miss Harris. 'The children have been brilliant and all extremely inquisitive and curious.'

Head teacher Sarah Simnett added: 'We felt this big impact event would be a great opportunity to inspire the children, particularly in their writing.'