A HEADTEACHER was dunked in a bath of foam, cream and glitter in the name of Children in Need yesterday.

Principal Jackie Ranger, from John Henry Newman Academy in Littlemore, braved the messy mixture in the Victorian bath to raise more than £1,000.

A crowd of 391 pupils from the Grange Road academy, alongside parents and siblings, cheered and laughed as their teacher was sprayed with a face full of foam.

The students joined thousands across Oxfordshire in a national effort to raise more than £26m for Children in Need yesterday.

Mrs Ranger said: “We love children and we want better for them. It is for children in our schools, communities and across the world who might not be as fortunate as us.

“I did this for children without food, children who have not got a home and children who have not got parents.

“Every child was so excited this week about it. They’ve talked about nothing else.”

But not everyone was convinced about having a bath in foam.

Although she was happy to watch, four-year-old Freya Simpson, from Littlemore, said: “I don’t want to go in there.”

She joined in the efforts instead by paying £1 to wear her Mickey Mouse onesie to school for the day.

Nine-year-old Cason Jones, from Headington, said: “It was really funny. It was a good day.”

They then joined in throwing sponges at the rest of the John Henry Newman teachers.

Cason’s mum Aaron Pratley, 29, said: “He doesn’t usually like staying after school, but you couldn’t pull him away.

“They have really pulled it out of the bag. Mrs Ranger brought so much joy to the children. It was amazing.”

Meanwhile, New Marston Primary School’s 335 students raised £426.32 during their pyjama day.

But the real after-school excitement came with their chance to pour whatever food they wanted over foundation stage teacher Alex Smith.

He stood in a paddling pool in the dinner hall at the Copse Lane school while baked beans, curry, eggs, spaghetti and yoghurt were tipped over his head.

Mr Smith said: “It was cold, wet and slimy. I think the pickled onions were the worst and spaghetti going down your back.

“The children just absolutely loved it, and it is really good for them because, when they watch it on TV, they will know they were a part of that.”

At Didcot Park railway station, cake stalls were set up and tickets for the TV show The X Factor given away as part of the fundraising.

Elsewhere, near Bicester, Pippa Channer and Charley Hood raced against the clock to see how many Jaffa cakes they could eat in 20 minutes.

The challenge at the Spar store in Ploughley Road, Ambrosden, raised £285.

Spar staff member Ms Channer managed an impressive 47 cakes to Ms Hood’s 18.

Shop manager Ann Cookson said: “It was really funny – we were all cheering them on.

“It was a bit of a surprise, too, because there is nothing on her. Pippa’s really slim.”

Oxfordshire’s efforts contributed to the national total announced on the BBC’s Children in Need show last night.