PUPILS from a Catholic school in Mill Hill were treated “like rockstars” yesterday after scooping an award in front of more than 15,000 people celebrating St Patrick’s Day in Trafalgar Square.

Year 5 and 6 students at St Vincent’s Primary in The Ridgeway were presented with first prize in the Tell an Irish Tale competition by comedian Patrick Kielty and deputy mayor Richard Barnes.

They beat off entries from 100 other schools across London to win the competition run by Mayor of London Boris Johnson, scooping £5,000 for school funds.

Youngsters, many of whom come from Irish backgrounds, were filmed by their teachers telling stories passed down from their families and acting out the story of St Patrick, Ireland’s patron saint.

Aaron Doherty, who teaches Year 5, said they wanted to do something which would be educational for the children and anyone else watching.

He said: “Entries could be written or recorded, but we decided to go the whole hog and make a DVD. It wasn’t about winning, we wanted to enter to get the kids thinking about other cultures and for a bit of fun.

“ What we really wanted was to involve people from all cultures and background and give the children a chance to share their knowledge and heritage.”

Joe O’Carroll, 10, went on stage yesterday to collect the award in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

He said: “It was amazing, we felt like rockstars. Everyone was cheering and singing and when you looked out all you could see were lots of heads, it was quite strange but really cool.

“My whole family are Irish and it was nice to be able to share some of the things I know with others. I learnt a lot about Ireland while we were doing this, like about where the counties are and that sort of thing.”