A teacher leading 11-year-old students in a creative writing lesson attempted to liven up the experience by telling them they were victims of an outbreak of deadly typhoid and may be locked in the school – and school officials now are trying to explain the actions to horrified parents.

According to a report in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper, new students at Bower Park School in Essex were told they were part of a deadly outbreak of the often-fatal disease, and were left crying in fear.

"My son said his teachers had told him they had to stay in school and be tested. If they had red spots or feel sick they had to report to the nurse straight away," one mother told the newspaper. "Then they were told it was all a joke – it was a lesson in relaying emotions and writing about how they dealt with it."

The head teacher at Bower Park was left trying to explain to angry parents the stunt was just part of a plan to "eradicate passive learning and replace it with exciting creative lessons," the report said.

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The school offered the explanation that putting students in real life situations to put them in touch with their feelings was part of a national curriculum.

Head teacher Mary Morrison said she's met with upset parents.

"Unfortunately some of our year seven students believed the story line that there was a local epidemic," she told the newspaper.

Typhoid is spread through contaminated water or food, and kills about one-third of untreated victims.

"What next, tell them their parents have been killed, chase them around with a knife all in an attempt to make them more creative?" suggested an anonymous contributor on the newspaper's forums page.

"Another stupid idea from people who should know better."

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