'There is great excitement throughout the school': Cork pupils record special rap for Christmas 

FIFTH class students from St Mary's on the Hill NS in Knocknaheeny will feature on TV on Christmas Day after they wrote and recorded a Christmas song, especially for the festive season.

The song ‘Santa’s Still Coming To Town’ will feature in Home School Hub: A Christmas Cracker which will be broadcast on Christmas Day at 5.25pm on RTÉ2.

The 40 students wrote and produced the uplifting rap song with some help from Garry McCarthy and friends.

St Mary’s on the Hill school principal, Maura Fennessy said the end product is ‘fantastic’. 

“Students from both our fifth classes came together. Garry McCarthy worked with Sean Downey and Sean Parnell and they held workshops in the school with our fifth class students. They created their own lyrics, the music, and the rap to go with it. The whole thing turned out very well. It is a fantastic finish. It is so professional. We are very proud of them. The staff and parents were so supportive. It has brought a great festivity to the area,” she said.

The Cork city primary school was specifically sought out by the makers of the Home School Hub series, an educational programme that commenced during lockdown for primary school students. 

Ms Fennessy said they were thrilled to be asked to record a song for RTÉ.

“When we were asked about doing a Christmas song for RTÉ it was amazing. The Home School Hub is doing a special edition on Christmas Day. The fifth-class students all worked really hard in their pods creating the music and writing the lyrics. There was lots of help from their families too and it all worked so well.

“We decided on our fifth class students as they had displayed great creativity while we were doing various other workshops. There is great excitement throughout the school. All the children are enjoying watching the video. The whole theme is that Santa is still coming to town and we wanted to create a festive spirit,” she added.