CHILDREN were able to become forensic scientists and try circus skills as part of a scheme designed to introduce them to secondary school.

About 140 junior school children from the Stratton St Margaret area attended the two-day event at Kingsdown School.

The youngsters are all due to start secondary school in September and the event aimed to help them familiarise themselves with Kingsdown.

Kingsdown students were on hand to answer questions about what life was like at “big” school.

The fun half-term activities on offer included Crime Scene Investigation, first aid, den building, circus skills, table tennis, basketball, a High School Musical- inspired dance routine and learning French.

Children from the different junior schools were also encouraged to mix and make new friends.

The days were provided free to any of the 250 pupils set to attend in the new school year.

Lesley Bayliss, the extended schools and community development co-ordinator at Kingsdown, said that the transition days were increasingly important as the school’s catchment area widened.

The main feeder schools for Kingsdown are Colebrook Junior School, Ruskin Junior School, Grange Junior School and South Marston Primary School.

But parents from other areas can apply and the school has received applications from Gorse Hill, Sevenfields, Penhill and Haydon Wick.

“It’s more important to have a really smooth transition when we have got lots of children coming from wider pockets of schools,” said Ms Bayliss.

“What’s different is once you automatically went to your nearest school. Now you could be the only child from a certain area.”

She said it was important to put the children at ease and address any concerns they might have.

“You wouldn’t think they were the same children by the afternoon,” she said.

The youngsters enjoyed the sessions.

Phoebe Norton, 11, from Colebrook Junior School, had made a new friend in Carla Mercer, 11, from Ruskin Junior School, and said she had enjoyed the CSI the most.

“I think we’ll get a bit lost at the start, but you get used to it and it’s been very good fun,” said Phoebe.

Ten-year-old Holly Edmonds, from South Marston Primary School, said: “It was scary the first day I came here because you didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Levi Iles, also 10, from Gorse Hill Junior School, said: “I have been learning how to ‘scratch’ on turntables and cook pizza.

“I was nervous but I feel more confident now.”