Talented young choristers from Oxford have performed in a national competition due to be screened on the BBC over Christmas.

The 39-strong Headington Junior School Chamber Choir travelled to Salford's Lowry Arts Complex for the national finals of Sainsbury's Choir of the Year 2002 -- Britain's biggest amateur choral competition.

Competing in the junior category, the school's choir performed the songs Hippopotamus, Engine Engine, Si Si Si and Dormi Dormi before a large audience.

Although Headington did not win its category, it was the furthest it had gone in the competition.

The school's head of music, Sally Chappell, was very happy with their performance.

She said: "They did brilliantly. The girls sang their socks off and really excelled themselves."