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Donkey stars in school's Christmas music video

St John's Green Simon Billings waving his hands in the air while wearing a navy suit jacket, blue shirt and red tie and smiling. In front of him are three boys and a girl, all who are wearing Christmas clothing and smiling. All pictured have donkey ears on their head and are standing in what looks like the school library.St John's Green
Head teacher Simon Billings performs the actions to Dominick the Donkey with a group of pupils

More than 600 schoolchildren, their head teacher and a donkey have combined to create a Christmas music video.

Staff and pupils at St John's Green Primary School in Colchester, Essex, were inspired by the seasonal song Dominick the Donkey.

Head teacher Simon Billings joked he was "coerced" into getting involved after pressure from the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).

The video has had thousands of views since being published on YouTube.

It was borne out of conversations by PTA members Sally Smith, Rosie Longmate and Claire Bate, with the team securing the services of a not-so-camera-shy donkey.

St John's Green Simon Billings wearing a red and white santa hat, a red waistcoat with snowmen on it and a white shirt. He has silver tinsel wrapped around his neck and he is smiling. In front of him is a microphone and associated noise cancelling equipment.St John's Green
Mr Billings said the music video would make families happy "for years to come"

Mr Billings said: "It's not everyday that as head teacher you get to perform on stage and spend a morning in a donkey stall.

"I didn't decide to record the song, I was coerced into it by the PTA who thought it would be a good idea.

"They knew that as head teacher in the last few weeks of the busiest time of the year in school, I had a bit of time on my hands and needed to be kept busy."

Mr Billings said the video would make families happy "for years to come".

'I hope it makes people smile'

It was filmed in the format of a talent show across a recording booth, stables and the stage at Colchester Arts Centre.

The video features the voices of 630 pupils who sing along as Mr Billings and members of his staff perform the song.

St John's Green A donkey with dark grey fur standing in stables. It has a red and white santa hat on.St John's Green
Donkeys Dick and Dom made a guest appearance in the video

The pupils were later shown the finished product when it premiered during a school assembly.

Both Mr Billings and Ms Smith claimed Dominick the Donkey had become "synonymous" with the school.

Ms Smith said the head teacher always taught "extremely enthusiastically" when it came to Christmas productions.

"I loved the challenge of seeing just how far we could push it, how many more wonderful people would say yes - and they did," Ms Smith said.

"It's been fantastic and I just hope it makes a lot of people smile."

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