Children at Sacks Morasha Primary in North Finchley had just enough time before the national school shutdown on Friday to complete one of the highlights of the year, the Science Week challenge.

Set tasks on the theme of “Our Diverse Planet”, children were given a natural material to explore and produce something from it that would be useful in school.

Rivka Broza, the teacher who organised it, said, “The children put a lot of hard work and effort into their ideas and it was a fantastic way to distract everyone from the bigger problems.”

The winning team from years five and six, choosing wood, made a tzedakah box out of lolly sticks. Years one and two designed a lava lamp, and the year three or four winners made a pillow from cotton — which will be given as a reward for the star reader of the week to take home.

Meanwhile, reception got stuck into clay. “We learnt that clay comes from the ground and can be different colours,” said winner Shari (pictured above). “I made a ruler out of clay. I made it really straight and I put numbers on it.”