The cross-legged audience certainly weren’t the most raucous crowd Ed Sheeran has ever played for.
But the perfectly behaved assembly were in awe of the international superstar when he dropped in for a surprise gig at their primary school.
The chart-topper showed up at Fairlight Primary School in Brighton last week to meet with students during their music lessons, squeezing himself into a mini chair for class.
He put on a mini-gig during assembly – performing top hits Shape Of You, Bad Habits, and Perfect – and later chatted with pupils about his career and the importance of music education.
The four-time Grammy Award winner, worth £300m, even donated five of his guitars to the school, in the hopes of inspiring young musicians.
Ed Sheeran surprised delighted Brighton primary school pupils and performed a mini-gig of his hits during special assembly last week
The chart-topper showed up at Fairlight Primary School in Brighton last week to meet with students during their music lessons, squeezing himself into a mini chair for class
Headteacher Damien Jordan said that none of the staff or students knew about the visit in advance – and he himself only found out the day before Sheeran, 33, arrived.
‘I was told that a famous singer wanted to see the music classes at the school,’ Mr Jordan told the BBC.
‘I joked with the children that I had bought my mate along, and then Ed Sheeran was there.’
Mr Jordan said he hopes the children will remember the experience for the rest of their lives.
And he joked: ‘Taylor Swift will be in next week, and then Beyoncé the week after.’
The visit was arranged by Create Music, a project run by the Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival which aims to provide inclusive music and arts education.
Sadie Avard was invited along to photograph the visit.
She posted on Instagram: ‘Ed gave us all an inspirational speech which resonated so much with my own experience at school.
He put on a mini-gig during assembly – performing top hits Shape Of You, Bad Habits, and Perfect – and later chatted with pupils about his career and the importance of music education
The four-time Grammy Award winner, worth £300m, even donated five of his guitars to the school, in the hopes of inspiring young musicians
Headteacher Damien Jordan (right) said that none of the staff or students knew about the visit in advance – and he himself only found out the day before Sheeran, 33, arrived
‘I was told that a famous singer wanted to see the music classes at the school,’ Mr Jordan told the BBC
Mr Jordan said he hopes the children will remember the experience for the rest of their lives. And he joked: ‘Taylor Swift will be in next week, and then Beyoncé the week after’
The visit was arranged by Create Music, a project run by the Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival which aims to provide inclusive music and arts education
Sadie Avard was invited along to photograph the visit. She posted on Instagram: ‘Ed gave us all an inspirational speech which resonated so much with my own experience at school’
He looked like he was having a great time as he enjoyed the visit to the school
The teachers along the back row filmed some of the performance
‘His main message was not to be disillusioned by school if you don’t quiet fit the expectations of academic life.
‘Don’t let it stop you from pursuing the things you love and turning them into your career.
‘To find inspiration from others in the industry and work even harder than they do to become best.’
It comes after last week Ed sent fans into meltdown as he announced a special edition of his second album X will be released next month.
The singer will celebrate the album’s 10th anniversary with the re-release on Friday 21 June, which is a decade to the day when it originally hit the charts.
Ed will also perform a one off show at New York’s Barclays Centre, with the setlist reflecting his X Wembley edition release from 2015.
X, released in 2014 – was the catalyst behind his global ascent. An LP that has now exceeded 22 million global sales, it generated the smash hits Don’t, Sing, Photograph, Bloodstream, and Thinking Out Loud.
Outside of the original tracklisting, nine bonus tracks will feature on the individual formats of the anniversary editions, all of which have never been released on vinyl.
These include I See Fire and All of the Stars’ taken from movie blockbusters, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Fault In Our Stars.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, fans shared their excitement about the release but others shared their disappointment the show was over in America.
They wrote: ‘Can’t wait pre order new @edsheeran 10th anniversary album and merch for X album’
‘9 additional tracks so basically a new album’ and ‘Ordered a vinyl ! Cannot wait until it arrives – hurry up June!!’
’10 years of multiply is actually insane!! can’t believe it!!’ and ‘Ten years! Wow! Can’t wait to celebrate!’
‘Just signed up to hopefully get tickets’.
The kids looked enthralled by the performance from the superstar
They sat and watched him sing some of his biggest hits
‘Ed you’re from Ipswich, why is your 10th anniversary show in New York £500 return flights to come to a show.’
To help get tickets into the hands of fans for his one off show, Ed is partnering with Seated for the exclusive fan on-sale.
Registration opened on Wednesday and will close on Thursday, May 2nd at 11:59pm ET.
The exclusive, general on-sale, powered by Seated, will begin for the selected fans on Monday, May 6th at 10am ET via Ticketmaster.