Growing up as a child in South London, where it’s often a few degrees warmer than the rest of the country, often meant that we’d be the hard-done by kids that didn’t get any snow. When the news and weather came on, we could only look on in envy at all the videos of children all around the UK flying down hills on sledges because school was cancelled!
In memory of this, I wrote this rhyming story about a group of Primary School kids in just this situation. : I hope you enjoy reading it. Alternatively, you can listen to me reading it here: https://dirigibleballoon.org/poem/The-Day-It-Didnt-Snow.
We trudged into school feeling terribly glum,
We’d been hoping for snow, but that snow didn’t come.
Instead, it was raining, and grey, grey, grey, grey,
And then it got worse,
When Miss Gibbs said: “Wet play.”
While other kids sledged up and down, having fun,
We sat, with our heads in our hands, having none.
Miss Gibbs gave us paper and glitter and glue,
She told us: ‘Stop moping! Find something to do.”
Then up piped the voice of a new kid, called Trevor:
“I’m making the world’s longest paper-chain ever!”
And we watched him make rings.
Out of strips of bright paper,
He looped them,
And linked them,
And glued them together.
And the whole class joined in,
It was something to do,
And we all added loops
Til that paper-chain
G-R-E-W!
Silver and crimson,
And glittering green,
Our chain was fantastic,
The best EVER seen!
It stretched round the room,
And then out through the door,
But it still wasn’t finished,
We all wanted more!
Then the kids in year Two
Saw our paper-chain fun,
And the kids in Year Three
Told the kids in year One.
And before very long,
The whole school seemed to know,
And everyone helped
Make our paper-chain grow!
And even the teachers,
Miss Gibbs and Miss Baker,
Began cutting strips out of colourful paper.
And our lessons got cancelled,
We were: ‘learning through play,’
We were trying new things,
It was paper-chain day!
And when it was finished,
We all oohed and aahed,
At our fabulous chain,
Made of paper and card.
It was draped down the corridor,
And all through the school,
Once round the classrooms,
And twice round the hall.
Even the staffroom
Was brightly festooned,
“Ooh, it looks lovely!”
Miss Hunniford swooned.
And the newspapers came
With their camera crews,
And suddenly in strolled
A bloke from the news!
And we didn’t get snow,
But we got on TV,
Miss Gibbs and some other kids, Trevor and me,
And our marvelous paper-chain
Shiny and bright,
Got a five-minute feature, on London Tonight!
We’d done it!
We’d made the best paper-chain ever,
Our brilliant school,
And the new kid called Trevor.
Angela Jelf 