PUPILS have replied to a musical message of support from their teachers with a light-hearted tribute of their own.

Soon after schoolchildren across the country were sent home last month, teachers at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy burst into song to let pupils learning in coronavirus lockdown know they are still rooting for them.

The video showed staff miming the words to the Motown hit I’ll Be There in a working-from-home karaoke montage.

It’s infused with a smattering of silliness. French teacher Ian Bothwell, pictured, set the tone as he sang into a washing up brush instead of a microphone.

The Argus: French teacher Ian Bothwell bursts into songFrench teacher Ian Bothwell bursts into song

Now, the pupils have come back with a version of Oasis’s Wonderwall in praise of their hard-working teachers.

Luke Sayers, from Portslade, put the footage together from clips sent in by self-isolating students.

The 15-year-old said: “We wanted to say thank you and give something back.

“We ended school so abruptly we didn’t have a chance to say goodbye.”

It took him a week to fine-tune the montage. He said he had chosen Wonderwall partly because the track is heavy on instrumentals, allowing everyone to get involved – even if they didn’t want to mime the words.

Luke can be seen playing bongos in his garden, following a barnstorming guitar intro from year 11 pupil Eleni McCarthy.

Student Charlotte Edwards comes in on the ukulele, and her classmate Alfie Norris sings while working out on a cross trainer.

Charlie Franklin-Martin, who appears at the video’s close, said this was an emotional time for Year 11 students.

“We knew school was coming to an end, but we didn’t know it would be so soon. And we don’t know when we’ll see our teachers again,” he said.

“Their video really touched us. We have a brilliant bunch of teachers and we realised we might never see them again.

“We’re a really tight-knit year group. There are only 80 or so students and the teachers all know us so well.

“I really get on with them – but I don’t miss the work they set me,” he joked.

The Argus: PACA student Charlie Frankin-MartinPACA student Charlie Frankin-Martin

Year 11 students are also sad because they are having to miss out on the school prom. But if restrictions on large gatherings ease, they have been told they may be able to reschedule.

PACA headteacher Mark Poston – who appears at the end of the teachers’ video with a green screen tropical beach behind him – promised Year 11 pupils that they would be seeing more of their teachers.