Schoolchildren turned detectives to solve a murder at a forensic workshop.

The pupils from Bancroft’s school in High Road, Woodford Green, were taking part in an event organised by the company Education Interactive.

They were presented with a scenario, based on a real life crime, of a mysterious shooting in a national park. 

Pupils had to examine a mocked up crime scene, analyse autopsy results, ballistics, tyre impressions, as well as witness and suspect statements before deciding on a culprit for the crime.

At the end of the session, which was led by Alison Leck of Education Interactive, the identity of the murderer together with motives was revealed.

The workshop was created by two forensic scientists, Richard Forrest and James Finger and developed in collaboration with forensic science centres in the UK and Australia.

Karen Rogers, marketing officer at Bancroft’s, said: “Described by one pupil as ‘like a giant game of Cluedo’, the sessions proved incredibly popular.

“As well as showing the role of forensic science in solving crimes they also tested the children’s powers of observation and logical thinking as they developed and tested their own theories about “whodunit” by their interpretation of the evidence.”