What began as a joke during a school singing assembly became an unforgettable opportunity for pupils at Anfield Road Primary School. In her very first year as a qualified teacher, Edge Hill University graduate Danielle McNally turned a bold idea into reality, demonstrating how a belief in the power of music led The Bell Tower Beats, the school’s band, to perform on stage for Foo Fighters at Anfield Stadium.
Danielle, who graduated from Edge Hill with a Primary Education with QTS degree, helped orchestrate an extraordinary opportunity for her school’s band, The Bell Tower Beats, to perform on stage at Anfield Stadium for legendary rock band Foo Fighters before thousands of fans.
The idea began when the school discovered Foo Fighters were opening their European tour in Liverpool. During the school’s weekly singing assembly, where pupils perform modern songs, Headteacher Claire Drew Williams suggested learning the band’s hit Times Like These. Joking that the band should come and watch the children perform, Danielle replied that she’d “do her best to make it happen”.
Danielle said: “I never seriously believed it would actually happen. But I started a social media campaign, posting videos of our children performing and tagging the band in the hope they might somehow see just how brilliant our pupils sounded.”
When the campaign failed to gain traction, Danielle refused to give up. After tracking down the band’s management team, she sent what she expected would be an unanswered email explaining who the school was, its close proximity to Anfield and how much the children loved performing the band’s music.
Two weeks later, everything changed.
Danielle said: “I received an email from the band’s management team in Los Angeles asking if they could arrange a phone call. I genuinely thought it might be a prank at first!”
Rather than visiting the school, the management team proposed something even more remarkable: the children would perform Times Like These on the Anfield stage before the concert, with the Foo Fighters themselves watching.
What followed was weeks of phone calls across time zones, Zoom meetings, emails and planning involving the band’s management, record label, concert promoters and school staff.
Danielle commented: “The biggest challenge was definitely keeping the surprise from the children. We told them we’d been invited to perform on the stage, but never mentioned that the Foo Fighters themselves would actually be there.”
The secret remained intact until the moment the pupils walked on stage.
“Watching the children’s faces when they realised the band were there is something I will never forget. It was pure shock, excitement and joy all at once. I was so overwhelmed by the moment that I actually burst into tears.”
Watch The Bell Tower Beats perform Times Like These for Foo Fighters on the band’s Instagram page and a fun interaction with the band.
For Danielle, the experience was about much more than meeting world-famous musicians.
Danielle said: “As a teacher, I firmly believe that the arts are just as important as any other area of the curriculum. Music has an incredible ability to bring people together, build confidence and give children opportunities to shine in ways that they might not in a traditional classroom setting.
“Many of our children may never have imagined that a world-famous band would take an interest in something they had created. Seeing them realise that their voices could be heard beyond the walls of our school was incredibly powerful.”
The impact has been felt throughout the school. Interest in joining The Bell Tower Beats has surged, pupils have grown in confidence and enthusiasm, and children are now talking about ambitions of working in the music industry and performing on big stages.
“It has shown them that they can achieve anything they set their minds to, even when it feels unlikely or out of reach at first,” Danielle said. “It has helped show the children that their ideas matter, their voices matter, and that with belief and effort, they really can achieve things they once thought were impossible.”
Danielle credits her time at Edge Hill with giving her the confidence to think creatively and pursue ambitious ideas.
Danielle said: “My time at Edge Hill University played a huge role in giving me the confidence to take on something like this. We were constantly encouraged to think outside the box and to believe that education doesn’t have to be limited to the traditional curriculum.
“One of the strongest messages I took from my time at university was that anything is possible if you are willing to put the work in and believe in your ideas. There is no limit to your dreams, and that mindset has stayed with me throughout my career.”
Having returned to university as a mature student, Danielle says studying at Edge Hill was one of the best decisions she has ever made.
Danielle said: “The people made all the difference. I always felt supported and valued by lecturers, mentors and classmates who encouraged me every step of the way. They gave me the confidence to realise that anything was possible.”
Since graduating, Danielle has secured her dream teaching role at Anfield Road Primary School, where she had already been working while completing her degree. Reflecting on her first year in teaching, she describes it as “a dream come true”, one that has already shown the difference a passionate teacher can make to the lives of young people.
Reflecting on the experience, she hopes it inspires other teachers to be bold with their ideas.
Danielle said: “I hope the experience encourages other schools and teachers to be brave. You never quite know where a simple idea might lead.
“If one thing has come from this, I hope it’s that children continue to believe that anything is possible. Sometimes the most extraordinary opportunities begin with the simplest of ideas.”
Find out more about studying at Edge Hill University.
July 9, 2026
