About
I had a short spell in a secondary school before settling into the primary age range, eventually becoming a deputy head.
I started writing songs and musicals for my school and was spotted by a production company who contracted me to write the music for a two part series about horses for Channel 4.
Eventually I left teaching and took onboard several projects including writing and recording for BBC schools radio, an international reading scheme, work for various publishers of material for primary schools and also an extensive music scheme for Worcestershire County. I was also writing and recording for ITV.
I started a business called MEW (Music in Education Workshops), and took music workshops around primary schools, days which culminated in an improvised musical. Great fun.
Over the years I amassed quite a few musicals for primary age children, and started to sell them nationally myself. MEW offered schools scripts, scores and CDs with children singing the catchy melodies.
Several years ago, at sixty nine, I retired, and the selling of my musicals was taken over by a company called Musicline. You can find their link below, and, of course, should you be a primary school teacher, you might like to buy one for your school.
This website is one of my hobbies. I have included quite a lot of old, (some of it very old!!), unpublished material, and some new in the hope that some primary aged children, (and perhaps other members of the family), might enjoy passing a few minutes listening to my often humorous songs and stories.
I hope to be adding new material for a very long time to come.
My Music
I use an Apple Mac with a midi keyboard to compose and record my songs and stories.
Very occasionally I might use a real guitar, but most of the time the sounds I use are generated by the computer, and I just arrange them how I want using a program called Logic Pro. It never ceases to amaze me.
Of course computer generated sounds can never be as realistic as real life instruments, but they can sometimes get fairly close … and of course, there are different levels of investment in IT equipment and software that can make things almost indistinguishable. I don’t attain to those levels!!
If you are interested, take a look at the video section at the bottom where I try to explain how I go about constructing a song.
Journal
NUTS
Sadie was nuts about nuts. Mind you, she was a squirrel after all.
She was also a squirrel with a rather poor memory … could never remember where she had buried her nuts … so she decided to store all her nuts in her drey. Not a good idea.
KS1
Lots of great listening here for younger children.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, or select Listen and Look at the top, and then click on KS1. You’ll find so much more than the items listed opposite.
Stories with catchy songs for young ones.
8.23
You know what it’s like. Every weekday morning.
Wake up, rush to get ready, rush to eat breakfast, rush to get to school, work all day, (or should do!), then home for tea, telly and bed. Then it starts again.
MOST RECENT
Ruby and the Rat Pack have entered a dance competition. There is great excitement behind the skirting board … well they can’t hold the competition in the open … too many cats. Can’t have too many sequins though.
Will they win, won’t they win? Have a guess.
FEATURING
SIMPLES Just scroll down the website to ‘Listen and Look’, click on ‘Key Stage 1’, and there they all are at the top.
As it says … SIMPLES.
MOST RECENT
Ruby and the Rat Pack have entered a dance competition. There is great excitement behind the skirting board … well they can’t hold the competition in the open … too many cats. Can’t have too many sequins though.
Will they win, won’t they win? Have a guess.
Journal
MOST RECENT
Count on Fluff
Elinor was not very good at sums, but she discovered that her pet dog, Fluff, WAS!
What a clever little dog.
FEATURING
That’s My Cat
Marmalade the cat was new to the farm. She wanted to play with the animals … the ducks, pigs, the bees … even the farmer, but they were all too busy … and the other cats were fast asleep.
It turns out that farm cats usually sleep during the day and work catching mice at night, and so that’s what Marmalade did. Have a sleep.
A sweet story with great songs for young ones.
Coming Soon
A Bare Bear
Bebe the bear woke up one morning to find that all her fur had fallen out. All of it. No idea why. She was all pink, and a bit shivery.
The family went into town to buy a fur coat to wear until her own fur grew back .. which it did. Phew.
My Music
I use an Apple Mac with a midi keyboard to compose and record my songs and stories.
Very occasionally I might use a real guitar, but most of the time the sounds I use are generated by the computer, and I just arrange them how I want using a program called Logic Pro. It never ceases to amaze me.
Of course computer generated sounds can never be as realistic as real life instruments, but they can sometimes get fairly close … and of course, there are different levels of investment in IT equipment and software that can make things almost indistinguishable. I don’t attain to those levels!!
If you are interested, take a look at the video section at the bottom where I try to explain how I go about constructing a song.
Listen & Look
Traditional story told in humorous, non-traditional way, with children singing four great songs … (but I would say that). LITTLE BROWN COW: OFF TO THE FAIR : UP THE BEANSTALK : FEE-FI-FO-FUM
Woolly Wanda, Mary’s little lamb, would wonder about wandering, and ponder the unknown yonder. After Wanda had wandered, I t turns out that Wanda was fonder of where she had been in the first place! WOOLLY WANDA LOST PROPERTY
A holiday on the Nile … the only problem? Crocodiles! Maggie and her family move to a hotel in Aswan which actually has a pool … and no crocodiles! (It does serve brilliant baklava though)
Take a trip on the Realway Railway. The Gospel Train makes several stops on its journey and reminds us of some characters from the Bible. You could explore their stories for yourselves later on.
Single, thoughtful song…. everyone has grey, down days, but hopefully the sunshine will eventually appear. A nod to the blues .
Just one song here …. fun, as you might guess. The firm is doing pretty well selling bananas, whilst being pretty scathing about humanoids!
The song comes from my podcast A HEAP OF SHEEP. Woolly Wanda wonders about wandering, and ponders the unknown yonder.
Get in Touch
If you’d like to get in touch, please fill out my contact form and I will get back to you.
Get in Touch
If you’d like to get in touch, please fill out our contact form and we will get back to you.