Please note: this article pre-dates the current National Curriculum and some content and references are outdated.

In a primary school in Devon, there is a teacher who sings to his class every day: traditional songs; love songs; lyrical ballads; sea shanties; tales of mystery and suspense; songs of ritual and ceremony, hunting songs, bloodcurdling ballads; comic songs; gospel songs; rounds and catches of every kind. They have a song a day. Sometimes he teaches them the song; other times they listen and pick up on the chorus or any repeated lines. If it is a new song, they listen intently and ask questions about the story...