The best poems about school

Our edit of the best poems about school that both kids and adults will love.

Many of us feel that our school days were some of the best in our lives. Here, read our selection of fun and silly poems all about school experiences that are perfect for reading with children and sure to bring a nostalgic smile to the face of every adult. 

Discover our edit of the best poetry books.

Round and Round

John Kitching ​

Round and round the playground,

Marching in a line,

I’ll hold your hand.

You hold mine.

 

Round and round the playground

Skipping in a ring

Everybody loves it

When we all sing.

 

Round and round the playground 

That’s what we like:

Climbing on the climbing frame,

Riding on the bike.

 

Round and round the playground,

All together friends.

We’re sad, sad, sad

When the school day ends.

 

Dinner Lady

David Harmer

Today at school

I cut my knee.

The dinner lady

looked after me.

 

She washed away

the blood and dirt,

then put a plaster

where it hurt.

 

Where Do All The Teachers Go?

Peter Dixon

Where do all the teachers go

When it’s four o’clock? 

Do they live in houses

And do they wash their socks?

 

Do they wear pyjamas 

And do they watch TV? 

And do they pick their noses

The same as you and me? 

 

Do they live with other people? 

Have they mum and dads?

And were they ever children?

And were they ever bad? 

 

Did they ever, never spell right? 

Did they ever make mistakes? 

Were they punished in the corner

If they stole the chocolate flakes?

 

Did they ever lose their hymn books?

Did they ever leave their greens? 

Did they scribble on the desk tops? 

Did they wear old dirty jeans? 

 

I’ll follow one back home today

I’ll find out what they do

Then I’ll put it in a poem

That they can read to you. 

 

Where Teachers Keep Their Pets 

Paul Cookson​

Mrs Cox has a fox

nesting in her curly locks. 

 

Mr Spratt’s tabby cat 

sleeps beneath his bobble hat.

 

Miss Cahoots has various newts

swimming in her zip-up boots.

 

Mr Spry has Fred his fly

eating food stains from his tie.

 

Mrs Groat shows off her stoat

round the collar of her coat.

 

Mr Spare’s got grizzly bears

hiding in his spacious flares.

 

And . . . 

 

Mrs Vickers has a stick insect called ‘Stickers’

. . . but no one’s ever seen where she keeps it.

 

At the End of a School Day

Was Magee

It is the end of a school day 

and down the long drive

come bag-swinging, shouting children.

Deafened, the sky winces.

The sun gapes in surprise.

 

Suddenly the runners skid to a stop,

stand still and stare

at a small hedgehog

curled-up on the tarmac

like an old, frayed cricket ball.

 

A girl dumps her bag, tiptoes forward 

and gingerly, so gingerly

carries the creature

to the safety of a shady hedge.

Then steps back, watching.

 

Girl, children, sky and sun

hold their breath.

There is a silence,

a moment to remember

on this warm afternoon in June. 

 

School Trip

Tracey Blance 

Line up 

search in panic

for partner on the coach.

An odd number – one left over

Why me?

 

Teacher 

Paul Cookson

Loud shouter

Deep thinker

Rain hater

Coffee drinker

 

Spell checker

Sum ticker

Line giver

Nit picker

 

Ready listener

Trouble carer

Hometime lover

Knowledge sharer

 

The Teacher’s Day in Bed 

David Orme

Our teacher’s having a day in bed –

She’s sent her pets to school instead!

 

There’s . . . 

 

A parrot to read the register,

A crocodile to sharpen the pencils,

A canary to teach singing,

An adder to teach maths,

An octopus to make the ink,

An elephant to hoover the floor,

An electric eel to make the computer work,

A giraffe to look for trouble at the back,

A tiger to keep order at the front,

A reed bunting (can’t you guess?

to help with reading, of course!),

A secretary bird to run the office

A piranha fish to give swimming lessons 

(Glad I’m off swimming today!),

A zebra to help with crossing the road,

Oh, and a dragon to cook the sausages.

 

I bet that none of you ever knew

Just how many things a teacher can do! 

 

What Teachers Wear in Bed!

Brian Moses​

It’s anybody’s guess

what teachers wear in bed at night

so we held a competition

to see if any of us were right.

 

We did a spot of research,

although some of them wouldn’t say,

but it’s probably something funny

as they look pretty strange by day.

 

Our Headteacher’s quite old-fashioned,

he wears a Victorian nightshirt,

our sports teacher wears her tracksuit 

and sometimes her netball skirt.

 

That new teacher in the infants

wears bedsocks with see-through pyjamas,

our Deputy Head wears a T-shirt

he brought back from the Bahamas.

 

We asked our secretary what she wore

but she shooed us out of her room

and our teacher said, her favourite nightie 

and a splash of expensive perfume.

 

And Mademoiselle, who teaches French,

is really very rude

she whispered, ‘Alors! Don’t tell a soul,

but I sleep in the . . . back bedroom!’

 

All of the poems above are from The Works chosen by Paul Cookson. 

The Works 1

by Paul Cookson

Full of poems from the very best classic and modern poets, this collection is bursting with riddles, tongue twisters, haikus, cinquains, songs, limericks, nonsense poems, narrative verse and more! This books offers children the perfect introduction to the wonderful world of poetry.