when she has a moment

There is one girl in my class who is younger than the rest, she is a clever wee chookie and she does well. As part of their talking and listening ( language) curriculum they have to learn to carry messages accurately. I decided to send Kate a message asking one of the classroom assistants if she could come and see me. I took a definite decision not to write down the message down as I wanted it to be a learning experience for Kate. I coached her on what she had to say.

Say to Mrs Cut " When you have a moment P3 (the name of our class) would like a word with you please".
Kate looked uncertain I repeated it, "When you have a moment P3 would like a word with you please".
I asked Kate to repeat it back, she said " If you have a moment P3 would like a word with you please".
I explained to Kate that if she said "IF" and not "when" Mrs Cut would think she had to come right away and things weren't urgent.
I repeated what she had to say, "When you have a moment P3 would like a word with you please".
She gave me it back, "When you have a moment P3 would like a word with you please".

Kate went to deliver her message to Mrs Cut and the rest of us moved to the seated area to begin our Maths lesson. The children were very excited about Mrs Cut coming because they had made some marvelous posters for her library the day before. As we sat down Josh asked me, "So when is Mrs Cut coming?" And with one voice the class replied,

" WHEN SHE HAS A MOMENT"