Glasgow school 'takes over' STV for a day as channel launches appeal

Pupils from Antonine Primary are staging a “channel takeover” at STV on Friday (November 10) as part of the broadcaster’s annual Children’s Appeal.

STV’s regular team of continuity announcers, who introduce programmes, have taken the day off and been replaced by a talented group of young people from primaries five, six and seven at the school.

The young pupils from Antonine Primary were a hit (Image: STV)

They will appear on screen to introduce some of the biggest shows of the day, including The Chase and Emmerdale.

The fun segments were filmed by an STV production crew in a classroom at the school last month. St Antonine was selected after signing up to take part in the Big Scottish Breakfast campaign earlier in the year.

Pupils took part in filming for the fun segments at the school (Image: STV)

Excitement at the school has reached fever pitch, explains literacy teacher Jenny Matheson.

“The pupils were beside themselves when we told them what they were going to be a part of,” she says, laughing.

The pupils are staging a 'channel takeover' (Image: STV)

“It was just nice to have something different like this taking place at our school. The filming crew arrived really early in the morning to set up the lights and cameras, and we even had a set designer come down the night before to make sure the classroom was looking tip-top and camera-ready.”

She adds: “There was so much excitement throughout the school – even from the pupils that weren’t taking part – that we had to cordon off part of the corridor so there wasn’t too much noise coming from other classes during filming."

It was a fun day of filming for the pupils (Image: STV)

The pupils were naturals, says Jenny.

“The kids all took to the cameras really well,” she explains. “They were interested in the equipment and asked lots of questions in-between takes. It was quite a long day for them, but they coped with it brilliantly."

Now, the young pupils cannot wait to see themselves on screen.

“I can’t wait to see all their faces when they’re watching themselves back," says Jenny.

The takeover coincides with the return of the STV Children’s Appeal, hosted by Lorraine Kelly and Sean Batty, which airs at 9pm on Friday.

Lorraine Kelly will host the show (Image: STV)

Lorraine and Sean will celebrate another year of incredible fundraising efforts and share important stories of the charities who work tirelessly to help children and families affected by poverty in Scotland.

This year’s STV Children’s Appeal Show will broadcast from a custom-built studio at Glasgow charity Refuweegee’s city centre headquarters. The charity’s slogan – “we’re all fae somewhere” – reflects its mission to ensure that families who have been forced to flee their homes arrive in Scotland to a warm welcome, and it has been supported in its efforts by funding from the STV Children’s Appeal.

 There will be appearances in the programme from a number of familiar faces including F1 champion Max Verstappen, First Minister Humza Yousaf – who has pledged continued support for the Appeal from the Scottish Government – and North Lanarkshire-born singer-songwriter Tom Walker, who will close the show with a world-exclusive first performance of his new single, Freaking Out.

The filming took place inside one of the school's classrooms, much to the excitement of all the pupils (Image: STV)

Natalie Wright, head of STV Children’s Appeal, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to all the brilliant kids at Antonine Primary School - our production team had a wonderful time filming with them, and I’m sure when viewers see the takeover on their screens on Friday, they’ll agree we have unearthed some definite stars of the future…"

She adds: “The STV Children’s Appeal is all about supporting children up and down the country, so it makes total sense for a lively, talented group of school pupils to take over our channel this Appeal Day. Watch your back, Sean Batty.”

You can donate to the STV Children’s Appeal at stv.tv/appeal