Plastic rappers strike a chord

Allenbourn Middle School pupils composed and recorded a song about plastic pollution. Pictured are Lydia Norrish, Nina Hicks, Lauren Duff, Sapphire Taylor and Lacey Smith.

Allenbourn Middle School pupils composed and recorded a song about plastic pollution. Pictured are Lydia Norrish, Nina Hicks, Lauren Duff, Sapphire Taylor and Lacey Smith.

Five school girls from Dorset have transformed into rapping stars to urge people to recycle their plastic.

The Year 6 girls from Allenbourn Middle School, part of Wimborne Academy Trust, so impressed people with their powerful lyrics and catchy tune that they were invited to record a demo at Queen Elizabeth School’s music studio.

Now the song has been taken up by Wimborne War on Waste and will appear on its website.

And when the girls got to perform it at a special show at the Tivoli one impressed parent, Phil Tappenden who owns the journal Soft Drinks International, played it to representatives of Coca Cola and other big soft drink brands.

Phil said: “Recycling, sustainability and packaging has been a big issue in the drinks industry for some time now.

“When I heard the girls’ song it really struck a chord with me and I thought it would be great for people in the industry to hear the perspective of young people.”

True to his word, Phil used the girls’ track to close his opening introduction at a seminar he hosted for the drinks industry in Coventry.

The two minute rap, entitled Save, makes an impassioned plea to people to think twice about how they dispose of their plastic.

It was penned by Lauren Duff on her keyboard and friends Sapphire Taylor, Lacey Smith, Lydia Norrish and Nina Hicks all helped her write the lyrics.

In the song they rap: “A plastic bag is the ultimate go to, throw it away you damage the ocean. A fish comes along, thinking it’s food. Then you eat the fish and there’s plastic in you. So come on, let’s get our act together. Come on, we can make this world better. We just gotta try, try, try…”

Headteacher of Allenbourn Middle, Cindy Pritchard, said: “The girls have made such a powerful impression with their song and we couldn’t be prouder of them.

“And as their lyrics say, they are the next generation, and it’s up to our generation to listen to what young people have to say on this very important issue.”

Wimborne Academy Trust, CEO, Liz West, added: “It’s incredible to think that such a brilliant and powerful rap was written by pupils as young as 10 and 11.

“We’re very grateful to Wimborne War on Waste and Phil Tappenden for promoting the song as it deserves to be heard by as big an audience as possible.”