Earlier this week a primary school in a bayside suburb was reported to have altered the lyrics of Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree, changing the word ''gay'' to ''fun''.

But teachers at Ballarat schools said they did not believe the song's wording was offensive or warranted changing, even by modern linguistic standards.

They said teaching the song in its original form should not be a problem.

Learmonth Primary School principal Marg Robinson said she would not change the song if she decided to teach it to pupils.

''We would still (teach) the song as it is, because a lot of words in English have more than one meaning and that's probably a good teaching point,'' she said.

Hepburn Primary School music teacher Zoom Beck said she would not alter the wording if it was taught to pupils.

Napoleons Primary School teacher Angela Pugh was surprised by news the Melbourne primary school had changed the song's lyrics.

''I'd never considered it needed to be changed,'' she said. ``I never thought about needing to do something like that.''

Ballarat resident Gaye Haintz said her name rarely presented any problems for her and questioned the value of changing the song's wording.

''The song was made like that, so why not leave it like that?'' she said.

Ballarat gay and lesbian representative group, Zaque, declined to comment.