I love these old school songs, Jennie. Your Tamworth High School Song is a superb example. Good, inspiring, stirring stuff, indeed !!!
My old grammar school in the 1960s, the Romford County High School for Girls (Headmistress: Miss Dorothy Bubbers; School motto not Latin, but, unusually, Middle English - Chaucer: 'Gladly Lerne, Gladly Teche') had not one, but two songs: The School Anthem ('Except the Lord Build the House') and The School Hymn ('Father, O Hear Us'). Our unofficial School Anthem, which we sang with much more gusto was the Dave Clark Five hit, "Glad All Over". Some of happiest memories of my life are yelling and stomping out this song over and over as we waited for the start of the end of term assemblies.

The county high has long since become a girls' comprehensive and I doubt they sing any kind of official school song now. However, let courage be our watchword ! All is not lost ! The flame still burns brightly ! The banner still waves trimphantly in some areas of the British state school sector !

Here is The School Song of the Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School, written by its first headmistress, Mother Clare, for the founding of the school in 1900, and still sung with with great regularity ( I know, because I used to teach there, and my daughter is a pupil.) It has a delightfully 'Victorian parlour'-type tune and a charm all its own. Like your school song, Jennie, this is a classic:

THE SCHOOL SONG

The very mention of our deal old school can thrill us all
And many memories of the same we gratefully recall.
The dear old school in many ways holds our allegiance fast.
Its record of a length of days points to an honoured past.

Chorus:
Loyal and true to you, dear Convent home,
Rises our song to you, dear Convent home.
Duty shall be our cry, as on life's road we fly,
All we have learnt from you, dear Convent home.

The sturdy spirit of our school we always will maintain,
A loyalty as true as steel, which seeks no selfish gain.
We'll hand on our traditions, too, and ever strive to be
A model fit to set before our brown posterity.

[All together now])
Loyal and true to you, dear Convent home.....

I love the 'brown posterity' bit ! That is because these girls were, are, and probably always will be, decked out from head to toe in brown uniform. The only exception: the multi-coloured stripey blazers, earning them the local nickname "The Deckchairs." Living up to the reputation of convent girls, no doubt there are other local nicknames, too, which as a teacher and parent I couldn't possibly know ;)

I've mentioned this before on Mudcat: I've steered my daughter and friends in the direction of Tom Lehrer's 'Vatican Rag', and they are planning a Busby Berkley-type song and dance routine of it for their final year concert. Maybe the school will adopt it ???

- jeanie