Ep 1 Stuck

A ukulele, an oak tree, and firefighters. Mr McMarlow says he can't climb the tallest tree in school because he's not wearing his tree climbing shoes. But the kids manage to convince him... but what happens when it's time to go back to class, and Mr McMarlow is stuck up a tree and the principal is on her way?? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Telling on the Teacher podcast. The story is called Stuck.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

There's a teacher at our school who always seems to break the rules, telling on the teacher.

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Would you? It was break time at Triple Oaks Primary School, and Mr. McMahlow was supervising the kids out on the playground next to the triple oak trees. He was carrying around his ukulele playing some of his favourite tunes and making up some other ones. He was the only teacher at Triple Oaks Primary who took around the ukulele and played songs while he was supervising the kids, but he was watching the kids as well, of course, when one of the kids came up to him and said, Mr McMarlow, Mr McMurlow, watch this, watch this. It was Sophie from his class, and she had a skipping rope in her hand, an old fashioned skipping rope made of rope, and she was spinning it around really fast. Look, Mr McMarlow, I learned to skip, she said as she skipped and skipped and skipped. Mr McMarlow, can you skip? Of course, said Mr McMahlow, and he handed his ukulele to Sophie and said, I know how to skip. And he did ten fast skips and then five crisscrosses and then finished with a double jump. Whoa, said the kids, as a few other kids had come to watch, like Edzy and Ezra and Julia. And then our Jamie came up and she was Sophie's friend and she said, Hey Mr McMahlow, you can skip and can you climb trees too? Of course, said Mr McMarlow. I can climb trees. Can you climb that tree? said Jamie, and she was pointing at one of the tallest trees in the school, one of the triple oak trees that the school is named after. Ah, well, um sadly I'm not wearing my tree climbing shoes today, said Mr McMahlow. Um, said Jamie. You can't climb that tree. Well I I could climb it, but it's actually quite hard to climb that one. See there's there's no low branches to really climb up on, and the trunk is really thick. See I can't even put my arms around it. Mr McMahlow walked towards the tree and reached his arms around it. That's when Jacob came up. Why is Mr McMahlow hugging the tree? said Jacob. Well he was going to climb it, but it's a bit too tricky, said Jamie. He doesn't have his tree climbing shoes either. Oh, said Jacob, um when I climb trees I climb trees with my bare feet, but I don't think a teacher would do that. Well they might, said Mr McMahlow. And he slipped off his uh his skate shoes with the green laces, and he pulled off his black socks, and uh looked up at the tree, and looked at the branch, and he said, Hmm, Sophie, could I borrow your skipping rope? He got the skipping rope from Sophie and said, If I throw this over the lowest branch, like this, he threw it over the branch, and I've got bare feet for grip, I might be able to get up there. He held on tightly to the ropes on the end of the skipping rope, the knots on the end of the skipping rope, and put his feet on the trunk of the tree and pulled himself up until his arm could just get around the lowest branch, and then he scrambled his legs over until he was sitting on the lowest branch. Yeah, go Mr McMarlow. The kids were all clapping. Can you go higher? said Jamie. Of course, said Mr McMarlow. So he reached up his hand and he reached up his foot. He was quite careful to keep a hand or a foot on the tree at the same time so he wasn't gonna fall off. He reached out his foot to test a branch. Snap it cracked off. What was that? said Sophie. Uh it was just uh I had to had to break off a dead branch, said Mr McMahlow. He kept climbing up a bit higher. What can you see? said Jacob. Um leaves, said Mr McMarlow. That's because you're in a tree, said Jacob. But what can you see down below? Hmm I can see Cherie and Lily playing shops in the playground, said Mr McMurlow. I can see Hudson and Boston fighting with sticks. Hm Sophie, can you go tell Hudson and Boston that the tree wants its sticks back? What? said Sophie. Yeah, said Mr McMurlow. Go tell Hudson and Boston that the tree wants its sticks back. So Sophie ran off to Hudson and Boston and they came over to the tree. What are you doing with my sticks? said Mr McMahlow. It was a bit hard to see him because he was in a really leafy part of the tree, and he was pretending to be a tree. Who who said that? said Boston. Never use my sticks for fighting, said Mr McMarlow, still pretending to be a tree. Does that sound like Mr McMahlow? said Hudson. They looked up into the tree, and they could just see Mr McMarlow's black shorts and his yellow T shirt. It is Mr McMarlow, said Boston. How did you get up there? Can you get as high as the kite branch? said Hudson. Of course, said Mr McMahlow. There was a kite that had been stuck in the big oak tree since some of the seniors were first at school, and it had never been able to get down, it just hanged down the tree. So Mr McMahlow kept climbing a bit higher. Whoa, Mr McMahlow's as high as the kite branch, said Hudson. More kids were arriving at the tree to watch Mr McMarlow climb to climb up. Jamie was getting a bit worried, she was saying, Don't go higher, Mr McMarlow. Don't go higher. But Mr McMarlow probably didn't hear that and he he just heard her say go higher and so he he just went a bit higher. He said, I've seen a bird's nest. I'm just going up to see if I can see if there's anything in it. And so he climbed a bit higher and then he looked in the bird's nest. There's nothing in the bird's nest, he called down. Um I'm coming down now So the kids waited for Mr McMahlo to come down, but he didn't. And they kept looking up at the tree and to see what he was doing. He was pretty high. Um What are you doing? called called Jacob I'm just working out how to get down And so the kids waited and they looked up. Um Come on, Mr McMahlow, said Sophie. I don't know where to put my hands and feet, said Mr McMarlow. Are you stuck? said Sophie. Only a little bit stuck, said Mr McMahlow. I'm going to wait because the wind started to blow and the trees swaying and I really need to hold on tight. It's a bit it's a bit scary up here. Sophie looked at Jamie and said I think Mr McMahlow really is stuck. I'm gonna go I'm gonna go and get Miss O'Connell. Um I think it's an emergency. And Jamie said, But are you gonna really get the principal? What if she comes and Mr McMahlow gets in trouble? I have to, said Sophie. It is an emergency and she ran off to get Miss O'Connell the principal. Jackie's dad was the caretaker at the school, and she said, I'm gonna go and get my dad. He can bring his really high ladder. Um and Hudson said, Well, I don't think your dad's gonna be able to help, even though he is the caretaker. He hasn't got a ladder high enough. He's actually he's the property manager, said Jackie, and I know he can help if he brings his highest ladder. And so Jackie ran off to get her dad. Just as she ran off, the music started to play through the speakers, and at Triple Oaks primary school that meant that all the kids had to go back to class because break time was over. The teachers were supposed to go back to class too, but Mr McMarlow was stuck in a tree. Mr McMarlow called Jamie, that's the music. It's time to go back to class. Tower room three to meet me by the triple oaks, said Mr McMarlow. Um I can't get to class right now. That's when they heard a clock clock clock clock sound. It was Miss O'Connell's high heels as she walked down the path towards the big oak tree. She got to the bottom of the oak tree and looked up. Mr McMarlow, what are you doing up in that tree in class time? called out Miss O'Connell. I'm sorry, said Mr McMarlow, calling down from the tree. I can't get down. The kids made me go too high, and now the tree is swaying and I have to hold on really tight. I'm gonna stay here until the wind stops. You got up there, said Miss O'Connell. And so you'll need to get yourself down. It looks like it's going to rain, and if you stay up there you will get very wet. I can't, said Mr McMarlow. The tree's moving too much. Well that's when Mr Label turned up carrying his tallest ladder. He put it up against the um tree, but it didn't really reach very high compared to where Mr McMarlow was. It got up to some of the tall some of the branches, but Mr McMahlow was much higher. That's not going to get him down, said Sophie. Well, you could call my dad, said Hudson. He's a firefighter. He could get Mr McMarlow down. Miss O'Connell called up into the tree. Mr McMarlow, if you cannot get yourself down, we're going to call the firefighters to get you down. Yes, said Mr McMahon, I think that's a good idea. You better call the fire service the firefighters. O'Connell had a big sigh. So she got out her phone and dialed the number. Yes, um fire service, please. Um we're at Triple Oaks Primary. The address 16 Acorn Drive. Thank you. Uh the emergency, uh a teacher is stuck in a tree. Yes, a teacher. Uh very, very, very high. Um probably three stories high. While Miss O'Connell was on the phone to the firefighters, Jamie had climbed the ladder and she was starting to climb up the lowest branches, and the best branches for climbing that tree were on the other side from Miss O'Connell, so Mrs. O'Connell couldn't actually see that she was climbing up the tree. Um and just then the fire engine arrived in the teacher's car park, and six firefighters got out, including Hudson's dad. Hi Dad, said Hudson. Mr McMarlow is stuck up a tree. Oh, said Hudson's dad, we've never had to uh come and rescue a teacher who was stuck up a tree before. No, said Miss O'Connell, I've never had to call the firefighters to rescue one of my teachers stuck up a tree before. Um who's that kid? said um Hudson's dad, looking up at the tree. Everyone else looked up too. That was Jamie. It's Jamie um said Sophie. Look, she's nearly as high as Mr McMahlow. Maybe maybe she's gonna get him down Up the tree Jamie was trying to talk to Mr McMahlow. Come on, Mr McMahlow, we've got to get down. I'll help you, said Jamie. No, it's too scary, said Mr McMahl. The tree is swaying too much, and I'm I'm I'm feeling sick. It's okay, said Jamie. It's Friday, remember? And you've got to do your song and assembly. Oh I'll do it next week, said Mr McMahlow. Um I I really I'm really too scared. But you have to give out your certificates, said Jamie. You always give out your certificates on a Friday at assembly. And if you don't, the kids will be disappointed. Come on, put your put your foot just down here. You know yeah, no, yeah that foot. Yeah, put it down. Yeah, and now you put your hand down. Yeah, yeah, put that hand down and and get get this foot here and feel for the branch. No, that other foot other foot feel for the branch. And you know your hand that's wearing your watch, you've got to put that one down too, put that one down to the branch. And Jamie kept talking to Mr McMahlow and kept getting him down branch by branch by branch until they finally got to Mr Label's ladder. And they both climbed down the ladder and everybody started chap clapping and cheering Hooray Mr McMahlow Hooray Jamie Oh looks like you don't need us anymore, said Hudson's dad. Thanks to this young lady, and he gave Jamie a big high five. Hey Dad, said Hudson. Can I show the class the fire truck? Yeah, of course, said Hudson's dad. So that's how room three got to have a special show and tell were the fire truck and see inside the fire truck and see all the compartments. Well, soon it was time for the assembly and the whole school got together in the hall, and Mr O'Connell sorry Mr McMahlow did sing his song for everybody. The kids were pretty sure that he made it up on the spot.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

It went something like this Stuck in a tree stuck in a tree Will someone please get me a cup of tea stuck in a tool, tool, toll, tool, toll toll tree.

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And then of course he had to give out his certificates. All the teachers gave out their certificates, but Mr McMahlow was famous for his certificates. Sophie got a certificate for helping in an emergency and going to get help from a grown-up. Hudson got a certificate for the very best show and tell with a fire engine. And Jamie got a special merit certificate for the best tree climbing rescue. Later at home time, Jamie and Sophie were chatting together. Oh I hope Mr McMahlow's not going to get fired, said Jamie, for getting stuck up a tree and not coming to class in time. Well, said Sophie, I I heard them talking. I heard Miss O'Connell and Mr McMahlow talking after he was down from the tree, and Miss O'Connell said Mr McMahlow, no more climbing trees. It's a serious health and safety hazard. And Mr McMahlow said that he wouldn't climb any more trees. At least not this week.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

Stuck in a tree, stuck in a tree will someone please get me a cup of tea stuck in a tree, stuck in a tree. Stuck in a tort, tree, stuck in a tree, stuck in a tree. Stuck in a stuck in a stuck in a stuck in a stuck in a stuck in a tort tree.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

I hope you enjoyed the first Mr. McMahlow story. We'll be back next time with a story about Hudson and Jacob trying to get Mr. McMahlow distracted when it's writing time. Look forward to you joining us then. Bye.