It was as a result of us creating the 'Hand in Hand 2000' sculpture that two of the Mum's from the school (read their stories below) came up with the idea of writing a song for the school, which has since been very much accepted as our School Song.

Click here to hear the children singing it.

Millennium Hands

by Penny Osborn and Ann Rapp

Hand by hand we are sculpted, together in time,

It's a story as old as a song and a rhyme;

One by one we will write it and live it with pride,

Make our mark on the pages of life far and wide.

Hand by hand.

Step by step we are walking the road of today.

Good or bad, rough or smooth, we'll do it our way!

We'll learn lessons that teach us the strengths of the past,

Look ahead to the future, however its cast.

Step by step.

Mind by mind, heart by heart, we will reach for the light,

In our work, in our play, by day and night.

Whether caring for others or daring alone,

In our growing we'll keep sight of truth, our milestone.

Mind by mind.

Voice by voice, we are joining together in song,

Chord by chord, verse by verse, with the harmony strong.

Each note different, but striking in its own right,

Loud or soft, high or low, with all of our might!

Voice by voice.

Voice by voice!

It was the approach of the Millennium and Penny Osborne and I were discussing how good all the school's ideas were for marking this - in particular the Hand's sculpture.

We wanted to make a contribution to the school in some way, but neither of us really had the time to embark on the PTA.

The school was involved with the 'Voices Foundation' initiative: everyone - from pupils to teachers - was being encouraged to sing, however shy they might feel!  Yet, there was no school song as such, so we thought we'd have a go at writing one.

We tried to capture in the words the things that have always struck us as being so strong at Camelsdale; it's belief that everyone has something to offer and should be valued for that individual contribution as well as for their contribution to the 'whole'.  There is a great philosophy of 'encouragement' which means the children really do want to try things and feel confident to do so and to be themselves.  Above all, there has always been a great belief in striving to do things well and with creativity.  The school is constantly looking at ways in which it can do things better and that produces some really good ideas within and extra to the curriculum.

I've had three children at Camelsdale now... they have all been very happy, learned well, made good friendships and learned to grow within a community while maintaining their own self-belief.  Hopefully in writing 'Hand in Hand' we captured a little bit of the free spirit of the School; it's meant to be a lasting thank you, but we won't be offended if it just becomes a piece of the archive!

One morning in 2000 I arrived at Ann Rapp's innocently expecting a nice cup of coffee and a chat.  However, Ann had just received a tape from her sister-in-law in Australia of a song which she had written for her school to celebrate the millennium.  The idea had caught Ann's imagination and she suggested that we might do something similar.  I have never written any music in my life!  We took the 'Hands' sculpture as our starting point.  We both admired the ethos and community spirit of the school and wanted to encapsulate that in the song if we could.

It came together remarkably quickly and easily and after speaking to Mrs. Palmer we took the song to Mrs. Muray.

It was a lovely moment hearing it sung by the children at the opening of the Millennium Courtyard Garden.