A Song for every Occasion

A Song for Every Occasion is the title of a hymn book we use at school but it is seriously lacking.  It has songs for going back to school, leaving school, Harvest, Christmas, Easter, Valentines Day and Mother's Day but there are things that happen in school that are just not included.  

My children have always joked that there is no situation that I can't think of a song for and even the dog has songs that he responds to.  In the morning I sing, "Good morning, good morning, good morning Bailey boy.  Good morning, good morning to you."  Today, I shared with the foundation class that when he goes missing on a walk, usually with his head in a bush I sing, "Oh where oh where has my little dog gone Oh where oh where can he be?  With his ears cut short and his tail cut long, oh where oh where can he be." He has nearly always come back by the time I finished singing.   I think they thought I was a bit mad, but they'll get used to that.

Today in year 1 we sang From a Tiny Ant.  This was unplanned but we needed a song and there was nothing in Songs for Every Occasion.  As the children were sitting on the carpet listening to an 'Old School Hip Hop' song a child handed me something.  The something was small and alive, it wriggled in my palm.  It was given to me by a child not known for their quietness.  He said, "It's a tiny ant and I found it in her hair!"  So we sang.  "From the tiny ant, from the tiny ant.   To the elephant, to the elephant," while I squashed it and put it in a pot to 'let outside later.'

This evening I have been singing an adapted version of a song I've been doing with year 5 & 6 about the ancient Greek marathon,  "Cause tiny ants get everywhere and boy that's bound to itch."

Maybe it's time to write our own school Songs for Every Occasion.  We have already started as one class has begun to write a song for assembly to sing to children getting good work certificates.  My favourite so far has been, "You may not be my mate but you did very great.  What did you do?  Help the teacher find a pen that's blue or the infants go to the loo?"