"Bee in the classroom!" poem

May 1, 2024 3:52 AM

My children learnt a humorous short poem in primary school (UK) about the chaos that ensues when a bee enters the classroom. I'm unable to find it on the internet.

It describes scenes of entertaining chaos and interrupted pedagogy and repeats the line "when there's a bee in the classroom" regularly. It ends with the punchline that
"the best time to be in the classroom is
when there's a bee in the classroom"

I guessed it may be by Michael Rosen or David Walliams but this didn't help me find it.

posted by snarfois to Writing & Language (5 answers total)

It's by Gervase Phinn and in his collection It Takes One to Know One.
posted by Tremble, Burglars! at 5:40 AM on May 1 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I've found the text of that one here, and sadly, although it has the same title, it's a different poem than the one I'm looking for. It's a popular topic!
posted by snarfois at 7:00 AM on May 1

Response by poster: I asked my daughter and she says it was from a collection of poems that were written by school children. But not just from her school. Maybe London schools or UK schools. She doesn't know if it was published as a book or not. But this helps to explain why it doesn't come up in searches.
posted by snarfois at 8:14 AM on May 1

Best answer: In the book My Grandpa's Beard: Poems by Joshua Seigal (Found on Archive.org)


BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
The sun shines bright, and through the trees
We hear the whisper of a breeze.
The sparrows sing their summer song -
Let's open the window! What can go wrong?...

...BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Panic! Chaos! What a fuss!

BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Dive down quick! It's after us!

BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Jump up screaming in the air!

BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Hide behind the teacher's chair!

It's big and furry, black and yellow,
We go wild and start to bellow
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM - can't ignore it
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM - try to floor it:
Lash at it with rolled up notebook!
Poke at it with a broken coat hook!

BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Pout at it! Shout at it!
Stick your tongue out at it!

BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
Hack at it! whack at it!
Throw your rucksack at it!

Do our work? A crazy notion!
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM- what a commotion
Writing today
Is a total write-off
Given the creature
That we've caught sight of;
My favourite time to Be in the classroom
Is when there is a
BEE IN THE CLASSROOM!
posted by slightlybewildered at 1:54 PM on May 1 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: You got it! How on earth?
posted by snarfois at 6:20 AM on May 2 [1 favorite]