ARDROSSAN pupils will see their Christmas play taken from the school hall to millions of TV screens across the UK.

It comes after Stanley Primary was named as a the winner in Virgin Media’s Christmas Stars competition.

The campus entered its festive play into the competition to find the UK’s best primary school play.

Now the school will have its show professionally filmed and televised to four million Virgin TV customers in the days leading up to Christmas.

As part of the money-can’t-buy-prize, the school will work with TV presenter, Stephen Mulhern, who will join the school’s cast to play the role of narrator for a one-off performance next week. The play, called Secret Agent Santa, is set in the South Pole and features a gang of disgruntled birds, known as the ‘Cheeky Penguins’ who kidnap Santa’s elves from the North Pole, and force them to work in an ice cube factory.

It’s left to Santa, Mrs Claus and Elf-in-training, Peggy, to don ninja gear and use spy gadgets to rescue the elves and save Christmas.

The school also won £5,000, and next year will go to London for a performance masterclass. Pupils will work with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit West End show School of Rock the Musical before getting to watch the show. The musical is also providing the school with 10 ukuleles.

In its entry, Stanley Primary school said it deserved to win the Christmas Stars competition because ‘at Stanley Primary drama is integral to the curriculum.’

They said: “We have long understood the impact that drama can have on confidence and creativity. As well as providing every child with the opportunity to perform front or backstage roles in large-scale musicals, pupils are also encouraged to create and produce their own theatrical performances which bring together elements of health and wellbeing, literacy, STEM and social studies. Secret Agent Santa is a totally original story developed by our pupils and staff. Costumes, scenery and writing are all child-led, and reflect the hard work and creativity of the pupils and staff. As teachers, our drive is to create positive memories and experiences for our children and performances are a sure-fire way to create lasting and joyful memories. To have our amazing children showcase their hard work on such a large stage would make for a very happy Christmas for us all.”

James Hughes, Head teacher at Stanley primary school, said: “We are very excited to have won this fantastic competition. It is an amazing experience for our school community. We are looking forward to welcoming Stephen Mulhern in to our school and working with him. An early Christmas present for Stanley Primary School.”

David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media, said “Huge congratulations to Stanley Primary School for being named the winner of our Christmas Stars competition. We can’t wait to come to Ardrossan to film their play, ‘Secret Agent Santa’ featuring TV presenter, Stephen Mulhern, as the narrator and make it available to our four million Virgin TV customers this Christmas.”