Establishing a singing school

A blog that began as a LinkedIn post - having fallen victim to the character-limit, here are my thoughts on establishing a singing school!

A singing school holds the opportunity of building a sense of community around music-making!

When tasked with developing a strong culture of singing in your school there are many elements to consider.

In certain contexts this is going to be easier than others.  But one thing for certain is that singing CAN become a key feature of music in your school: primary, secondary, LA, Independent, MAT.  It’s possible!

Reflecting on this, I’ve listed below some of the strategies and considerations affecting the success of developing a singing school, in my experience.

Having just wrapped up my first Mass, packed to the brim with favourite hymns of students and staff, I have a lot to build upon and the joy of singing sits at the heart of the journey we’ll be taking together.

Music Teachers, choir directors and school leaders, I’d love you to add your own tips for success in the comments on the original post!

🎶 How does developing a singing school look in different contexts?

🎤 Take the Year Group singing workshop approach

🎶 Hold class singing assemblies in the primary setting

🎤 Hold Year Group singing assemblies in the secondary setting

🎶 Embed an element of singing into each scheme of work

🎤 Ensure children and young people have an opportunity to sing in school concerts & sharing events

🎶 Where possible, have your vocal teacher deliver a special assembly to advertise individual & group lessons / promote the love of singing

🎤 Bring [local] vocal artists into your school for masterclasses / school assemblies

🎶 Where implemented, ‘Daily collective worship’ provides an opportunity to embed music into the routine of school life, and therefore singing - if your goal is to become a singing school!

🎤 What about teaching technique?

🎶 Incorporate warm-up activities wherever possible

🎤 Incorporate student song suggestions in your repertoire and listening lists

🎶 Make use of long standing, established, tried and tested resources such as Sing Up!

🎤 Promote practice by sharing song links, lyrics & backing tracks via your school’s VLE / email / messaging / homework system, making access easy for students, outside of lesson time.

🎶 Set up a school choir and make it fun! 🤩

🎤 Encourage diversity of repertoire / style and invite students to share their singing styles and traditions with you or in front of a class or invited audience

🎶 Incorporate rap and include in concert programming

🎤 Introduce regular singing, notation and ear training through the use of Kodály

🎶 Encourage boys to sing and to join your school choir

🎤 Aim high and teach students to follow a vocal score

🎶 Aim high and teach part-singing in harmony (using aural teaching methods)

🎤 Promote grade-singing as an option to reward students for their diligence and as a pathway to further study of music.  There are many vocal syllabi available that are tailored to different musical styles, genres and interests

Head over to the original LinkedIn post to share your suggestions! ⬇️ ✏️…

*****

✨ My name is Jen, and over the past 15 years I have been helping classroom teachers to develop their teaching practice.

✨ The reason I love doing this is to see students thrive in purposeful, engaging classrooms!

↗️ DM me for training, teacher collaboration, facilitation, independent evaluation & panels ✨