6B GO SWIMMING
(Robb Johnson)

It always rains on Tuesdays when 6B go swimming
Sky's a grey wet blanket, story of our lives
You get the odd excuses - Samantha's ears and Joanna's dog
Are always sick on Tuesdays when 6B go swimming
Dino's got no coat again, he twists and twists his plastic bag
Michael's burned on both his hands and James has got four videos
Daniel finds some pink and white crochet for a baby
A little piece of paradise when 6B go swimming

And at the baths the roof leaks, attendants shout and old men float
And I collect the golden things children wear instead of coats
But when the unreal blue is kicked white and the laughter hits the water
Davina's smile says it all: mega-bright, and 6B go swimming
I've two degrees and I don't know how to be as happy as they are now
I was always too shy somehow to dive in
Now on the side I sit and think, It's not a bad world just badly organised
You either swim or you learn to sink, and 6B go swimming

Free time and out and I nag them through the showers and back into their uniforms
They swing on bars and they flick their towels and gel their hair into hard spikes
I help with chains and laces while Anthony, King Rat, King Tut
Is last dressed - a little boy lost when 6B go swimming
We rally round the sweet machine, and thoughtful Trudy tests her heart-line
Tina's last in line again and she's lost 5 p
There's dog beneath the fallen leaves, my sense of humour gets chewed and blown like bubble gum
But diamonds also grow on trees when 6B go swimming

(as sung by Roy Bailey)

Notes:
[1994:] Robb Johnson is a [junior school] teacher and for a short period in 1963 I did some supply teaching in a secondary modern school in Dagenham, Essex. '6b Go Swimming' paints a picture that I recognise even after 30 years. Each new child and activity is placed before me in a vivid way. I can almost hear the kids shouting and jumping into the water. They got a raw deal at that school but as the song says diamonds emerge in the most unlikely places. (Notes Roy Bailey, 'Business As Usual')

[1999:] Chris [Woodhead] has said that there are 15,000 poor teachers. Well, he's probably right. What people forget is that this is 3.2 per cent of the whole profession. If 96.8 per cent of people in, say, journalism, or - please God - the film industry were either good or brilliant, we'd see it as an absolute triumph. (Sir David Puttnam, informal government adviser on education, Observer, 11 July)

[2000:] (1987) Supply teechin' in Feltham ... (Notes Robb Johnson, 'Margaret Thatcher: My Part In Her Downfall')