Sunday, 30 April 2017

Malta - Time Expedition

Time Expedition is about today’s kids spending most of their time using technology and various gadgets to while away the time and forgetting what is it like to play freely in the open air and being sociable. Suddenly, Ozzy the Alien, lands into a park but no one looks at him. So he yells out and shouts to them to join him in playing traditional Maltese games. Hope you will enjoy our entry! Sing with us and have fun! Good luck to all!

Friday, 28 April 2017

England - Raggle Taggle Gypsy

This year, we've chosen to sing a traditional British folk song that has been popular throughout Britain, Ireland and North America for 200 years.
We've added some Punjabi Bhangra beats to better represent the cultural diversity of our school community. Our children sit comfortably in many different cultures, and our song reflects this.
Thanks so much to Steffen for pointing out that England's entry, Raggle Taggle Gypsy, has Scottish roots. Thanks too to Michael who has gifted England this song from the Scottish borders, in true Schoolovision generosity of spirit!



There were three old gypsies came to our hall door
They came a-brave and boldly-o
And one sang high and the other sang low
And the other sang a raggle taggle gypsy-o

It was upstairs downstairs the lady went
Put on her suit of armour-o
And there was a cry from around the door
She's away wi' the raggle taggle gypsy-o

It was late that night when the Lord came in
Enquiring for his lady-o
And the servant girl she said to the Lord
"She's away wi' the raggle taggle gypsy-o"

"Then saddle for me my milk white steed
- my big horse is not speedy-o
And I will ride till I seek my bride
She's away wi' the raggle taggle gypsy-o"

Now he rode East and he rode West
He rode North and South also
Until he came to a wide open plain
It was there that he spied his lady-o

"How could you leave your house and your land?
How could you leave your money-o?
How could you leave your only wedded Lord
All for a raggle taggle gypsy-o?"

"What care I for my house and my land?
What care I for my money-o?
I'd rather have a smile from the yellow gypsy's lips
I'm away wi' the raggle taggle gypsy-o!"

Thursday, 27 April 2017

Scotland - You Are A Star

“Every child is an artist” (Pablo Picasso)

However, here in Scotland, we also think every child is a Star!

For 2017, Scotland are delighted to sing the Fischy Music children’s song You Are A Star.
Fischy Music are well known here in the UK for their songs that are designed to make you feel good.

So, why not turn up the volume, get your rock guitars out, and join in the singing and the actions of this great tune that celebrates the fact that we are ALL stars in our own way!

Wednesday, 26 April 2017

Sweden - Better Together

Greetings from Helsingborg and Sweden! This time last year I was very interested when Anneli Hill, and the team of Swedish teachers, told the rest of the staff about Schoolovision and showed us the entry that our PYP5 students had worked so hard on. Being an almost lifelong fan of Eurovision, I don't think our other PYP1 teacher, Magdalena Simons, was too surprised when I "convinced" her that PYP1 should enter in 2017! With her musical talents, my organisational skills and Anneli's expertise in Schoolovision, I knew we could make it happen! We were very lucky that one of the music teachers, in our school, Per Kincaid, had written a song, years ago, called "Wonder Song" and he was willing to allow us change the lyrics for the competition. With the help of our students and many other staff we wrote "Better Together" and are very proud of what our 47 6-7 year old students have achieved! A big thanks to Simon Vickers for filming and editing our video, to Anneli Hill for helping us to write the Swedish chorus, to Sally Drury for helping the children practice the song in music lessons, and helping us to write the song and to Mike Black for helping with everything!! This was a zero budget production, The International School of Helsingborg is a public school in the south west of Sweden, with very passionate students, staff and parents! We are so excited about the 12th of May and look forward to hearing all of the entries and deciding how to cast our votes! Thank you for all the lovely feedback we have already received! Best of luck, everyone! Kind regards, Helen MacGrath

Austria - The Rainbow Dance

Dear friends,
this year our students decided to sing about colours, peace, friendship and a hopeful future.
Please enjoy our video and tell us "What is on your mind?"
Sing with us and have fun!



Could you finally come down, please?
Look, you are already red all over
because the dress you wear is shrill.
Was there just an orange one for sale?

Do you really wanna be like me?
You are green with envy and quite pale.
Do I wanna be so green myself?
Whenever did you lend a hand?

Would you please stop crying
into the blue sea of your tears?
Why don't you look into the purple mirror?
I know that pleases you so much.

Tuesday, 25 April 2017

Hungary - Ez itt az én hazám

The song talks about our legacy: our foods, our fathers’ teachings, factories, landscapes, all they left for us, childhood memories that we can pass on to the next generations, the future we are building together for those coming after us … about a small country we love dearly.

Monday, 24 April 2017

Russia / Republic of Tatarstan - Чак - Чак



We are happy to have completed the video before our upcoming holidays. The children learned this song about 6 weeks ago and since then they sing it day in and day out at school. They really enjoyed the work in the recording studio, showing off dresses, being actors and actresses in our makeshift film-studio (we had to film inside since it was still very cold and unpleasant outside) and of course eating loads of chak-chak.
Chak-chak is the traditional sweet of Tatarstan which is deep fried dough rolled in honey. We attempted to represent the hybrid of Russian and Tatar culture of the region as well as our very special flair as an international school by including different musical styles, the 3 main languages spoken by our students and relating to a range of local and international fairytales. We feel extremely privileged to be part of this fantastic event and looking forward to a lot more fun to come.

Thursday, 20 April 2017

the Netherlands - Zoals hij (Just like him)

Every year, thousands of Dutch classes perform in school musicals in their final year of primary school. This song is from one of those musicals. The story is about a famous youtube personality. Everybody wants to be like him! Of course, at the end of the play, he realises that real friendship is more important than 'likes'.
This video is really our students' work. Their own ideas, their own choreography. They organized, filmed and edited everything themselves!

Oh, by the way: sorry to our Belgian neighbors for stealing your Manneken Pis. There's a mention of Brussels in the song, and somehow youtube decided to take this image for a thumbnail...


Wednesday, 5 April 2017

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