A HEAD TEACHER has become an overnight internet sensation after producing his own version of hit song Gangnam Style.
Royal Alexandra and Albert School head Paul Spencer Ellis and pupils have created "Gatton Style" as a novel way to promote the Reigate school.
The song's video, rapped by Mr Spencer Ellis, was dubbed "posh rap" by pupils and received more than 16,000 hits on YouTube within days of going online.
"When students asked me to do the rap I had never seen Gangnam Style," said Mr Spencer Ellis.
"The first I knew about it was an appointment in my diary and I was asked to rap something. I said 'I can't rap'.
"We put it up quite quietly but the pupils spotted it, told their friends and it spread like wildfire."
The original hit, Gangnam Style, by South Korean musician PSY, has won awards around the world and was the first online video to reach a billion views.
It has been parodied by many different institutions, most famously by independent school Eton which released Eton Style last year.
But Mr Spencer Ellis' Gatton Style version came about almost by chance.
The school recorded a video Christmas card this year and the cameraman was still on-site when the students showed Mr Spencer Ellis PSY's original song.
"I said our stables are identical to the ones in the video," he said.
"Luckily my next appointment didn't show up so we headed down there with the cameraman and someone had some dark glasses."
But the video, which features clips of students swimming, dancing and doing army drills, has a serious purpose.
As a state boarding school, Mr Spencer Ellis says Royal Alexandra and Albert is often overlooked by prospective parents.
"People don't know about state boarding schools," he said.
"Whenever there is a new Minister for Education we have to go and explain state boarding schools. People who hear about us just find us online, so anything we can do to promote ourselves is good."
The school, in Gatton Park, offers state-funded education, with parents paying £4,340 a term for boarding. The lyrics to 'Gatton Style' Gatton Style. Gatton Style. We already have the horses, the swimming pool, the army. The range of our activities can drive our rivals barmy. A child can board from seven and make a happy landing. The boarding is affordable, the teaching? Much outstanding. The food is good to eat, if you like fish and meat, with healthy options all the while, that's also part of Gatton Style. To fill you up and make you smile. Gatton Style. Gatton Style.
