CHILDREN were stunned to find a mysterious egg in their school hall as they returned from their long summer break.

Pupils attending St James’ CE Primary School breakfast club were first to spot the mysterious large egg — which, after ‘advice’ from the local education authority, was taken into the headteacher’s office, as it appeared that something was actually hatching.

Since last Tuesday, children have been trying to find out more about the egg — and how it got into school.

Late last week, the mystery was solved when children arrived to find a Tyrannosaurus Rex had hatched, bringing laughter and chaos in school.

Lisa Belfield, headteacher of the Farnworth school, said: “The children were so excited about the egg, what it was, some thought it was a dragon’s egg, others said it was a dinosaur egg.

“They were trying find out how it got into school — children from reception and year six worked on it in all their lessons, measuring it, writing about it.” Teachers had worked during part of their summer holidays to create an ‘egg-citing’ start to the school year.

Mrs Belfield said: “Six weeks is a long holiday and we wanted to create a wow factor when they came back to move straight into learning and it has achieved that.

“The children were so enthusiastic, they were so engaged and really inspired.”

She added: “They were talking about the egg, whether it had cracked more and telling their parents as they picked them up from school — and parents wanted to know more.

“The staff worked really hard with the children who were so excited about it they created their own learning journey — taking their learning in a different direction.”

The dinosaur — measuring 8ft tall, 17ft — met the children who found out more about this prehistoric creature who had hatched in their school, before he was taken away by Big Foot Events to educate more young children about prehistoric times.

Six-year-old Emma Tran said: “An egg was found in school and we didn’t know what was inside.

“On Thursday the egg hatched and we finally found out what it was. There was a big dinosaur but it was only a baby and it was friendly. It even did some tricks too! Some people thought it was fantastic and some were a bit worried but it was fun. The dinosaur’s tail was so long that it hit the ranger on the head — everyone laughed.”

Molly Ellis, aged nine, said: “On Thursday Mrs Belfield rung Professor Egbert Eggleton about the egg we had found in school. He told her not to go near her office —where the egg was for safe keeping — as it might be dangerous.

“The egg started to crack and hatch and we had a special assembly to find out what it was. I thought it might be a lizard and was surprised when I realised it was a dinosaur! I was amazed and thought ‘wow!’ but I was a bit scared at first. I really enjoyed seeing a dinosaur in school.”