A TOTTINGTON teacher has gone viral after uploading a video of pupils teaching him a new dance craze to Facebook.

Simon Hunt, a teacher at Tottington Primary School, asked his year four class to show him to perfect The Floss dance after noticing they were practising the move in class.

Instead of reprimanding them, the teacher said he decided to take the ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ approach.

The Floss has caught the imagination of children in classrooms across the country after a boy called Backpack Kid performed the move in the music video to Katy Perry’s ‘Swish Swish’.

The dance involves a lot of fast and repetitive swinging of hips and arms in a motion akin to flossing.

Video footage of Mr Hunt performing the dance with pupils went viral and has been viewed more than 57,000 times on the social media site.

It has also featured on ITV's Good Morning Britain, and was one of the most read stories on the BBC's website on Monday.

Mr Hunt said: “It's gone crazy. I'm not sure whether all the kids know about the publicity because we've been off school.

"Last year we had the dab. If you ignore these things then they won’t go away. The best thing to do is ask the kids what it is and if you take an interest they like it.

“The kids’ relationship grows if you take an interest in this sort of thing, so at break time I said ‘who wants to show me how to do this dance and we will record it?’

“The kids are used to me putting videos on social media to promote the positive side of it and how you can share your work.

“They are all miles better than me at the dance. They can all do it. I have kind of got it but can’t do it as well as them.”

Mr Hunt has become well-known for his innovative teaching methods, which include setting up Skype sessions with children’s authors.

In January, he arranged for pupils at the school to hold a question and answer session with Jeffrey Ventre, a former SeaWorld trainer who starred in the hit documentary Blackfish.