'The pupils are so grateful to Ed Sheeran for making young dreams come true'

Finn Valley College staff have said the experience of their students’ video being used for Ed Sheeran’s latest song has been “a dream come true”.

Sheeran has sold more than 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. On Tuesday he shared his new song ‘Magical’ on his YouTube channel, which was produced by Transition Years students from the Stranorlar secondary school.

Teacher Ms Tina Garry decided to help to take on the project after her colleague Edel Temple had got the wheels in motion, which cumulated in Sheeran sending the school a personalised video. This, where Sheeran expressed his gratitude to the students, was shown at the school on Tuesday.

“Ed left us the loveliest message, a personalised greeting to the pupils and said that he loved the video,” Tina told DonegalLive. “We hope that he does 'cause we loved making it. It goes to show what our young people can achieve with the right support, budget and resources. They have shown how innovative they can be - I am so proud of them.

“We hope the magic of Finn Valley College is clear to the Ed Sheeran fans; the pupils are forever grateful to Ed and his team for making young dreams come true and for giving the pupils the chance to take part in something so exciting and indeed, so magical!”

Last summer, Edel, above, spotted an opportunity on Sheeran’s Instagram where he was calling for fans to make a music video to accompany the songs on his new album, Autumn.

“I am lucky to bear witness to the most magical students and knew it would be a chance in a million for our students - so I sent in an application to take part,” she said.

Sheeran’s record company Warner Bros loved the idea and invited the school to collaborate on the project. At this stage, Edel approached Tina for help. A former teacher of Media Studies, Tina, with the brilliant brains of students, wrote the pitch for the competition, devising the concept, planning the shot types and compiling a list of props to complement the narrative and music.

“With Transition Years having a little more flexibility in their timetable,” Tina said. “It was an ideal project for them, so we set about devising a concept and came up with the idea of Romeo and Juliet, as it was fresh from the students’ doing the junior cycle the year before.

“We wanted to do something that everyone could relate to. Having a teenage crush and being in school are things that are universal to everyone. People all around the world would understand. With it being filmed in school, it had to be naturally something to do with school.”

“Warner Brothers kept coming back looking for more details - how it would be cast, how it would be propped - and we were given the title of the song in advance. So we knew what we were trying to fit with this beautiful ballad. It just kept escalating till we got to the point where they said ‘Let’s do this’. We thought it was too good to be true.”



The Romeo and Juliet theme, where an unrequited teenage crush was harboured by two friends, was something the pupils were keen to explore. A love for drama and literature in a school setting was popular among the TY group who knew love and school life were things that could be related to by everyone. Plus, it perfectly suited the lyrics and melody of the beautiful love song called Magical.

Being chosen to actually film their pitch was a welcome surprise for the school and they set about making room for a small film crew in school. A team from The People We Meet Productions led by Dublin’s Dave Carroll arrived earlier this month and another Donegal dimension was added with the addition of Producer Siobhan McGinley, a native of Falcarragh.

“Thanks to first-time screen actors in the video are students and staff who gave up considerable time and energy to work with the production team,” Tina, below, added. “Dave, Evan, Finn and Siobhan for putting the pieces of the puzzle together creatively as well as staff colleagues in Finn Valley College for their support. And a special thanks goes to the stars of the show, our pupils, we are so proud of how they rose to the challenge, especially our leads, Danny and Leona!"

The process was one that was kept secret for as long as possible, with the students working away to what they thought was a routine project, before the news was shared.

“The kids did not know, as we were sworn to secrecy. We had to give a hint to a few mummies for parental permission and they were only too happy to keep it nice and quiet, as they knew the teenagers would not have a hope of sleeping for a week if they knew. We wanted to get the most natural instincts from them as well.

"When we told them, it wasn’t how I expected at all. Silence descended on the room. Jaws dropped. They were looking around them and the principal, Mr Alan Thompson, was in the room and people thought it was a joke. One person screamed and everyone screamed. The tears started. It’s been a brilliant experience.”