Britain’s Got Talent. That’s for sure. Just take a peek inside the classrooms, corridors, and auditoriums of our primary schools.
From The Royal Albert Hall to ITV primetime, young people across the nation are spilling out of the music room and onto the concert stage – sharing their love for the arts and passion for music along the way.
Can you hear it?
From Yeovill to the concert hall of London’s Royal Albert.
From Orton Wistow to the spires of Peterborough Cathedral.
Can you see it?
From Southall to the multi-school cluster performances across London.
From Bolton le Sands to the bright lights of Britain’s Got Talent.
Can you sense it?
It’s the joy of music making, singing and instrumental play.
Spilling out from classrooms into wider school life and the community.
It’s the transformative power of music.
Through classroom, extracurricular and instrumental learning, one thing is certain, music education changes lives.
Pupils who receive regular, high-quality music tuition are able to develop not just their singing, performance and compositional skills but also their mathematical, language, motor and neuroplasticity skills. They experience improved self-esteem, mental health and wellbeing and increase their long-term educational and career aspirations.
Emma Williams, from Lancashire Music Hub, has said: “The benefits of singing are widely known and bringing local schools together to sing alongside inspirational musicians and sharing their skills with audiences from their community, creates long lasting musical memories and hopefully a lifelong love for singing.” BEY
St. Mary’s head teacher Mark Deegan – who’s pupils participated in Inverclyde’s annual music festival – said: “It’s been fantastic seeing everyone putting themselves forward. We’ve got every child in the school taking part in something this year, with several pupils in more than one thing.
We’ve had lots of success so far, but probably the biggest success is actually everybody putting themselves forward. The trophies and awards that are coming back are actually a bonus on top of it.” TEL
Whether it’s Somerset, Cambridgeshire, Greater London or Lancashire, children all across the UK are taking to the stage to share their love of music.
And it’s all hands on deck.
Whether the show is big or small, recorded on iPhone or broadcast on ITV, pupils, parents and teachers are united in their desire to showcase their local school’s commitment to delivering excellent music education.
They are proud of the curriculum investment, skillful teaching and large degree of preparation that goes into making each performance “sing.”
For example, BBC recently covered the story of the children who were to sing newly-discovered 300-year-old music in Latin as part of a choral performance at the Royal Albert Hall.
Artistic director of Armonico Consort, Christopher Monks, said: “We’ve been training the kids to be really, really good singers, without blinding them with rocket science – basically making singing fun.”
“Around here, they’re hungry to learn, they’re hungry for for opportunities and they’re fascinated and curious and just brilliant fun to work with.”
Claire Hodgson, headteacher at Preston Primary School, told BBC Radio Somerset: “It’s absolutely amazing. We love every opportunity so when this came along we thought we must be part of it, and they’ve loved every single minute of all the rehearsing that’s gone into it – it’s lots and lots of effort.” BBC
One of the best things about music education – which is clearly set forth in the National Plan for Music Education – is the DfE’s affirmation that a robust, well-rounded music programme should include curricular learning, yes, but also a host of extracurricular opportunities to reinforce and diversify pupils’ experiences.
It is recommended that these activities include clubs and choirs, singing assemblies, instrumental tuition, trips to enjoy music in the community, collaborative lessons incorporating other core subjects and more.
The insight – music education should not be walled away behind the piano bench or choral score but allowed instead to range freely.
It should help to shape the whole of the primary curriculum, reaching out beyond school boundaries to delight and engage parents, carers, families, friends and the wider local community.
Daniel Hargreaves, head teacher at Bolton le Sands CofE Primary School, has said: “The Lancaster and District Schools’ Singing Festival is a highlight of the school calendar as it is a memorable and valuable opportunity for children across our local community to unite in music, movement, and song.
Watching the children beam and shine as they sing their hearts out is truly magical and listening to parents (and staff) talk about how they remember attending when they were at school makes it worthwhile. Thank you to all those involved for keeping a long-standing tradition alive!” BEY
As the perfect complement to Sing Education’s curricular offering, our high-calibre music specialists provide active, engaging vocal, choral and instrumental lessons to pupils throughout the school day – prioritising musical understanding, enjoyment and progression over perfection.
Bert Routledge, Director of One-to-One and Small Group Provision for Sing Education remarks “Our vision for music at our partner schools is to inspire a lifelong love for music, fostering creativity and confidence in every child, with plenty of opportunities for them to explore music in lessons, clubs and performances.
We know that Sing Education’s unique approach to child-centred, active music making positively transforms pupils – enhancing their cognitive skills, teamwork, and self-expression.
Some of our proudest moments include cultivating a vibrant music culture, fostering talent, and creating memorable performances, such as our termly schedule of cluster performances.”
And when done well, what difference can we expect to make in the lives of children?
For that, let’s consider the words of Lucy, 10, from Orton Wistow Primary School. Participating in the creation of the Peterborough Songbook, she wrote about [the city’s] Cathedral with its “stained glass windows and spiralling towers”.
Lucy also said “standing on the stage, singing the song that I wrote the words for will be something I remember forever! PET
