Here in Australia the long summer holidays are coming to an end, and children and teachers are heading back to the classroom. So, I thought it might be nice to have a school themed post for Poetry Friday. A search through my poetry files found this one, written a few years ago (for the #postitnotepoetry challenge on Twitter), and written at a time when I still had school aged children:
Back to School
Six weeks ago 
I breathed a sigh
relieved
that school was over for the year.
Today
I sigh once more
relieved the holidays
have ended.
(Copyright Sally Murphy)
This year is the first year in 26 years that I do not have one or more children heading back to school, and so this year my feelings are a bit different. But the feeling I had every summer when I had school age children was pretty consistent – relieved at the start that the end-of-year scurry was over, and that we would have a break from routine, and time at home, and maybe a holiday somewhere; then, at the end of the holidays, a feeling of relief that we would all get back into a regular routine again. Though, if I’m honest, there was another feeling, one that is also here this year: the feeling that time moves just too quickly, and my babies were (are) growing up so fast!
This second one was also written a while back and, I promise, is very tongue-in-cheek,and not autobiographical.
I Hate It!
I hate school!
The kids are mean.
The classroom smells funny.
The lessons are hard
and recess is too noisy
We have to do sport
and the kids laugh
when I drop the ball.
The lunch orders are always cold
or soggy
or both
and the toilets
are leaky
and stinky.
I hate school
and I wish I could stay home
but the principal says
teachers should show up for work.
(Copyright Sally Murphy)
This of course sent me looking to see if I had a more positive poem to share. Surely not all my poems about school are negative? After all, I loved school when I was a child, so much so that I became a teacher and still spend lots of my working life in schools. Luckily, I found this one:
Preschool
We come each day
We sing.
We play.
We laugh.
We draw.
We laugh some more.
We take our turn.
We read.
We learn.
We listen.
We read.
We read read read.
We have such fun.
We jump.
We run.
We clap.
We dance.
And home we prance.
(Copyright Sally Murphy)
Ahhh preschool (or kinder, kindy, or prep, depending where you live!). But what about older kids? I had to wrack my brains for this, but then I remembered my verse novels and, my friend John (from Toppling) came through with his thoughts:
It’s not great having to head back to school 
after two weeks of holidays
but it’s cool being back with the gang.
Being in a group like ours
is great.
At recess
and lunch
and in class
you always have someone to sit with
or talk to
or just to hang out with.
You always get chosen for a team
during sport
and you have people
who remind you about homework
and notes
and even training after school.
Miss Timms calls us “the gigglers”
because on her first day
we couldn’t stop laughing.
It’s not a cool name
for a group of Year Six boys
but it sounds okay when Miss Timms says it.
(Copyright Sally Murphy)
Here’s to the Miss Timmses of the world, who are going to make kids giggle, and help them learn this year. And here’s to the Johns who can find the good things about school – and here’s too, to the kids, who maybe aren’t looking forward to school. I hope this is the year it gets easier for you! As for me, I’m glad school is going back because soon I will be out visiting schools and spreading a joy of reading and writing. My favourite part of my job!
Have a great Friday. The Poetry Friday roundup is being hosted by Carol at Beyond Literacy Link.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful collection of poems, Sally. We are in the last few months of “regular” school before my youngest heads off to college. I’m missing those pre-school and early days of coming home to enjoy playtime together.
I had a laugh with your teacher poem too–and I’m sure it gives some students a laugh also! All the best with your school year, thanks for sharing this bevy of poems Sally!
Lucky kids when you come to visit, Sally! Thanks for sharing these fun range-of-emotion school poems this week. (And I know what you mean about kids growing up & away too fast….)
Your second one made me laugh out loud. I totally was NOT expecting that ending!
We are studying the orbit of earth and the way seasons work. It’s fun to say, “My Poetry Friday friends in Australia…” 🙂 It’s hard for all of us to wrap our minds around the word FEBRUARY signaling the beginning of fall, JUNE meaning winter, and DECEMBER a bathing suit vacation month!
(PS–Loved the postcard!)
I love the back-to-school theme here. Our university term just started and while my students are definitely not in preschool, I find this to be a great breathing space as I read these lines.
HA! Oh that first poem, I LOVE it! I can imagine all teachers feel that way every once in a while. 🙂
All three of these are such fun. The teacher one made me laugh! It took a little while to get used to not being tied to the school schedule, but I must say it does have some advantages.
Sally, the poem from the teacher’s point of view is quite funny. Lester Laminack wrote a children’s book with a similar thought, Snow Day. Thanks for the wealth of poems this week. Happy Autumn.
Such a range of poetry (and emotions) inspired by school. I had to giggle at your teacher poem. 🙂 I’m with you – this is the first time that I haven’t been involved in a new school year, as either a parent, or a teacher. And I wasn’t sorry. Because like you, I can still look forward to school visits as an author! YAY! 🙂
Welcome back to a new school year. Enjoy your school visits. I love the “I Hate School”
These are wonderful especially the ones with a twist at the end.
Hi Sally! Our youngest will soon graduate from high school, and I am eager to not have my life dictated by the school calendar… ah, freedom! 🙂 Thank you for your school poems, both positive and negative… they are both important! You might enjoy Lee Bennett Hopkins’ newest anthology coming in February SCHOOL PEOPLE. 🙂 Also, enjoy those school visits… I know they will enjoy YOU! xo
Hi again, I forgot that I had a question for you….but it left my brain when I was thinking about your back to school poems. You have lots of poems. How do you archive them so that it’s easy to browse old poems and find them? It seems silly. But, I have loads of poems that I wish were stored in some sort of order. I’m the same way about poetry awards. Every once in a while I win a contest or get a poem into a journal and I don’t keep a good file on when/where. Any tips on that?
Only six weeks for summer holiday? ouch! That seems short. But, maybe that’s good if you have a few additional breaks spread throughout the year. One of the things about our eight-week break is that it is just a bit long. I love the time away from the work of school in the sunny season. But, it’s also easy to become lazy.
I can’t help it…your tongue-in-cheek poem is my favorite.
I hope you get lots of school visits to keep you enjoying the good parts of school (no stinky toilets!).