A BOURNEMOUTH primary school is hoping to be top of the tree after releasing its first ever Christmas single.

Pupils from Winton Primary School have recorded the song We Can’t Wait in a bid to raise much-needed funds towards school improvements and there are even hopes it could reach the coveted Christmas number one spot.

The cheerful song has been a year in the making and last year each class in the school wrote a sentence describing what Christmas means to them with parent Paul Keeley then using the sentences written by the children to compose the song.

The children worked alongside music teacher, Alex Wallace, in learning the song before recording sessions took place in the school’s music room which saw all children in the school involved.

The song was unveiled earlier this month when it was performed by year 3 and 4 pupils at the Bournemouth Schools’ Music Association Carol Concert at Bournemouth Pavilion with year 5 pupils also performing the song at the Castlepoint Christmas Light switch-on.

News of the Christmas single was kept secret from parents before the song was performed at the carol concert and We Can’t Wait was then released on download sites to coincide with the performances.

Laura Perrett, assistant head teacher at Winton Primary School, said: “The school hopes that this will give all children in the school a real-life experience of being a recording artist and releasing a single as well as performing in a concert.

“Any funds raised will go to the school’s Parents and Friends Association who are currently raising funds to further improve our outdoor kitchen and garden areas. The school is willing to perform the single in the local community to support events in the run up to Christmas and are hoping that if sales take off the children at Winton Primary will have their own Christmas number one.”

On December 19, 120 children from Year 1 will be performing the song to a group of residents at Talbot View Care Home.

The single is available to download on iTunes, Apple Music and Google Play Music.

Other contenders for this year’s Christmas number one slot include Elton John’s Your Song, which is featured in this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert, Ariana Grande, who is currently the UK number one with her single Thank U, Next, and The Fire Tones, a group of fire service personnel from around the UK who have come together to record a version of Do They Know It’s Christmas?

The 2018 Christmas number 1 will be announced on Friday, December 21.

Ed Sheeran claimed the number one spot in 2017 with his single, Perfect. Previous winners from Christmas past include the Military Wives with Gareth Malone, Mr Blobby, Queen and Cliff Richard. The Spice Girls were number one for three years in a row between 1996 and 1998.