STAFF and pupils at Chawson First School put down their pens and got active in the classroom last week as part of a national initiative to encourage active learning.

No Pens Day encouraged children from all over the school to try all sorts of different activities from drama and acting, to baking and solving maths problems.

Even the teachers were banned from picking up a pen, with the exception of filling out the registers.

Headteacher Helen Wallace, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to dedicate the whole day to the importance of speaking and listening. This is an area we greatly value at Chawson, and as we know how important it is for children’s social and academic progress, today we are putting down our pens and picking up on our language.”

The school also had a special visit from the Worcestershire Children’s Speech and Language Therapy Services, which chose them from all the schools in the county to receive a workshop from speech and language therapists concentrating on games, music and listening.

Pupil Leah Harrison, said: “It’s fun because they played listening games.”

Trudi Purser from the school, added: “It’s learning differently. The children who struggle with writing come alive with the drama.”