STUDENTS at a Bradford school are battling it out to be named the nation's funniest class in a popular comic's competition.
Bradford Christian School, in Livingstone Road, Bolton Woods, has been revealed as one of the funniest schools in the country. The school's year five and six have been shortlisted as one of the 10 finalists in Beano’s hunt for Britain’s Funniest Class 2021.
Their joke; ‘What did Minnie change her name to when Rubi's 'Growth Ray' experiment went wrong? Minnie the Shrinks!’ was specially chosen by Beano’s panel of expert judges and is now being put to a public vote on Beano.com to decide the ultimate winner.
The nationwide initiative, in partnership with YoungMinds, the children and people’s mental health charity, provides teachers with free curriculum-linked Beano for Schools lesson plans and aims to lift classroom spirits, tickle funny-bones and find the next generation of comedy geniuses by crowning the funniest class in Britain.
More than 120 primary school classes from across the country submitted their original jokes for a chance to take home the title.
The shortlisted top 10 jokes can now be voted for on the comic's website until Thursday, June 10 to decide who will be crowned Britain’s Funniest Class 2021. The winning class will be revealed in a special issue of the Beano on sale in July.
Sharon Taylor, Bradford Christian School teacher, said: "Our year five and six class have gone Beano mad this half-term.
"I used to love the Beano as a child as did many of our staff including drama teacher Jacob Phillips, who has almost every annual since the Beano started.
"This has been a hard year for everyone and we wanted to inject some fun into their English lessons.
"He loaned Dennis and Gnasher badges for the children who produced the best daily joke.
"We used some fabulous resources provided by the Beano and had fun playing with language.
I couldn’t believe it when we got a call on the day we broke up to say one of our jokes had made it to the final 10
"We’d love to win a year’s subscription to the Beano for each student in the class plus other reading goodies."
Mike Stirling, editorial director at Beano and head judge, said: "This Minnie joke has brought maximum laughs to the Beano office.
"Year five and six from Bradford Christian School have renamed one of our most beloved characters, after a silly science experiment with Rubi.
"The science of laughter tells you that it makes us all feel better, so thank these pupils with your vote."
The winning class will be turned into characters and feature in the iconic Beano comic, as well as winning comic subscriptions and Beano books courtesy of Studio Press for the whole class.
The winners will also enjoy a special VIP Beano assembly for their whole school and will receive an official Beano trophy crowning them Britain’s Funniest Class.
The children's comic was first published in July 1938 and continued production throughout the Second World War, featuring stories of The Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx, Bananaman and Dennis and Gnasher.
To view the shortlisted top 10 jokes and place your vote online for Britain’s Funniest Class, go to beano.com/posts/britains-funniest-class-vote-now
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