The Ridings School in Halifax was labelled Britain’s worst school around this time. I think Mike Ward at the Actors’ Workshop in Halifax might have requested that I write about it, although I might have worked out the relevance of the story for myself.
I think this one was used in Halifax but not at NewsRevue, but it might have made both shows.
The school was subsequently turned around and became one of Britain’s best schools, after which it was only a matter of time before the authorities would close it down, obviously.
WONDERFUL SCHOOL
(To the Tune of “Wonderful World”)VERSE 1
Don’t know much about Ecstasy,
Don’t know much about LSD;
Never learned how to run amok,
Never learned how to pick a lock;
But I do know my ABC,
And I can count: 1-2-3,
So The Ridings School’s no use to me.MIDDLE EIGHT
Well I tried hard to be an A student,
Then my class rebelled;
Now maybe by being an A grade student,
I could get myself expelled.VERSE 2
Don’t know much about heroin,
Don’t know much about drinking gin;
Never had any gonorrhoea,
Never drink much but ginger beer;
But I know my relativity,
So I do know, QED,
That The Ridings School just ain’t for me;
No, The Ridings School just ain’t for me.
Below is an official lyric video of Sam Cooke singing Wonderful World: