HUNDREDS of schoolchildren from Swindon were heard by listeners across the nation yesterday as they took part in the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show Tour.

DJ Nick Grimshaw and the Radio 1 team were at Isambard Community School in North Swindon as part of a four-date tour of previous Big Weekend host towns and cities, in the run-up to this year’s event in Derry.

The event, which was broadcast from 6.30am until 10am yesterday, saw about 300 pupils watching performances from chart toppers Little Mix and Bastille, as well as taking part in interviews and games.

Head of music, Nathan Jones, assistant headteacher, John Ward, and head of Year 7, Lorraine Bulpitt, also performed Gangnam Style on stage after losing a pupils vs teachers quiz.

Speaking after the event, Manchester-born Nick said: “The crowd were really great. It’s really good to have an audience if you’re a show off like me. They were so up for it and they were really happy to get involved.

“I liked the pupil who said Little Mix weren’t really his favourite but he was looking forward to Bastille.

“It’s so funny because when I play those songs I’m usually in a little room and you forget that everybody loves those songs. It’s weird to see everyone singing along.

“The highlight for me today was getting the teachers doing Gangnam Style. It was so embarrassing for them. I would have lost it at school if I saw my teachers doing that.”

The pupils arrived in the hall at about 7.30am and Little Mix took to the stage half an hour later.

They performed Wings, followed by their latest single How Ya Doin’?

Comedian Chris Ramsey also took part in the show, and read his own set of school announcements.

And Bastille got the crowd going with performances of Laura Palmer and Pompeii.

Isambard’s school band, The Hourglass Has Turned, which includes students Georgia, Aaron, Jamie and Jamal, sang their own song followed by a cover of Rihanna’s song We Found Love.

Georgia, 14, who is in Year 10 and performs vocals in the band, said: “It was nerve-wracking but it was fun. It was an amazing experience.

“Just before we performed I was just thinking ‘I hope people like it’. The feedback people gave was amazing. This is the highlight of the year.”

Audience member, Paige, 12, who is in Year 7, was interviewed by Nick when he went into the audience.

She said: “It was amazing being on the radio.

“I told him I had got the last three seats in the front row and I said it was so amazing that I had got a sore throat because I was screaming so much. Little Mix were amazing.

“I love their fashion sense and their hair.”

Jodie, 14, who is in Year 9, took part in the teachers vs pupils quiz.

She said: “I was a bit nervous about taking part but I knew all the answers. I love Little Mix, it was great to see them.”

Lorraine Bulpitt, who was one of the teachers who took part in the forfeit, said: ”We were nervous before we started performing Gangnam Style, but all the students were cheering us on and they were laughing their heads off once we started.”