CHILDREN were Top of the Pops yesterday when they visited a recording studio to create their very own charity Christmas album.

Students and staff from Beyton Middle School near Bury St Edmunds are recording festive favourites by Slade, Wizard, Band Aid, The Jackson 5 and the hymn Silent Night to raise money for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice.

Staff selected 10 singers from the 17 children who auditioned to take part in the recordings.

IT Technician Chris O’Rourke came up with the idea and took the children to The Shrubbery Recording Studio in Bury.

He said: “I think they really enjoyed themselves and that they were part of it singing in the recording studio.

“There were a few nerves at the beginning. They had a little practice a couple of times to get it right and then recorded.

“They really liked it and thoroughly enjoyed it. When they did the choruses they really got into it.”

He added: “It was the school council, which is run by kids, that chose the hospice because they wanted to support a charity for children.”

Teachers Jo Brown and Andy Duckett as well as administrator Jane Olive lent their musical talents to Silent Night.

All 650 students have been recorded singing the choruses of Slade’s Merry Xmas Everybody and Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas? in a special school assembly.

Students are currently busy working for a competition to design the album’s front and back artwork.

Staff from the recording studio will visit the school tomorrow to complete the recordings.

The album will be available to purchase through the school for �3.