PUPILS at Dunmow St Mary s Primary School held a press conference to announce they have discovered a new planet, Nebulous, to live on. However, there was no need for parents to panic that their children were going to become astronauts, as it was all part

PUPILS at Dunmow St Mary's Primary School held a press conference to announce they have discovered a new planet, Nebulous, to live on.

However, there was no need for parents to panic that their children were going to become astronauts, as it was all part of a six-week project to study the solar system.

"The purpose was to look at the Earth and its relation to the Solar System," said Kathy Thompson, one of the teachers who came up with the idea for the project.

"We studied all of the planets and looked at what you would need if you had to start up a new colony from scratch."

Using design technology the children designed space buggies that could cope with different terrains and made models from wood as well as coming up with ideas of what aliens might look like.

A drama technique called Mantle of the Expert was used as pupils took on various roles as if they were experts in their fields in order to explore and learn about the subject.

The culmination was the press conference held in front of other pupils and the Dunmow Broadcast photographer Sarah

Lucy Brown.

"The children really took to it very imaginatively," said Mrs Thompson. "The 30 minute press conference, where they had to answer questions, showed how much they had learned.