In January 2007, the then Education Secretary Alan Johnson announced that the British Government through the Department for Education (then Department for Education and Skills) would invest £10 million towards a one-year national singing programme for primary schools responding to the recommendations of the Music Manifesto. In 2008, the funding was extended to £40 million over four years, ending in March 2011.
Between January 2007 and March 2011, Sing Up was led by a Consortium of partners, made up of Youth Music with AMV-BBDO, Faber Music and The Sage Gateshead. Children's charity Youth Music was the lead partner, with music publisher Faber Music overseeing the national singing resource, including the Song Bank library, while advertising agency AMV-BBDO led a media and schools campaign highlighting the benefits of singing. The Sage Gateshead led the Workforce Development Programme, which focused on building the confidence and expertise of primary school teachers and musicians so they could lead and support children's singing activity. From January 2007 to March 2011, Sing Up was championed by the composer and broadcaster, Howard Goodall CBE, as the Government's National Singing Ambassador.
In March 2011, the Government announced a further £4 million funding to Sing Up for the next financial year. The aim of this investment was to help the programme build a sustainable future beyond April 2012. In light of this, Sing Up is now equally led by all three Consortium partners –Faber Music, The Sage Gateshead and Youth Music. Due to restrictions in the programme’s funding, AMV-BBDO have now stepped away from their role within the Consortium.
In April 2012, Sing Up will become a membership organisation, providing a comprehensive package featuring tailored resources, inspirational training and personalised support.
Sing Up aims to put singing at the heart of primary-school aged children's lives. For schools it promotes singing as a cross-curricular tool in line with the National Curriculum. For teachers it provides training opportunities to lead inspirational singing activities with young people; for children, Sing Up brings opportunities to develop their skills and enjoyment of singing and for communities, it runs successful projects placing singing at the heart of communities.
Mrs Davies Report this comment
Posted 16th May 2012 01:53
I have been involved with Sing Up since its induction and have attended as many training courses as possible. As a Music Co-ordinator in a Primary school, responsible for all ks2 music, without any formal music training, I have learnt so much, which has enabled me to achieve a high standard of singing within our school and achieve the Silver Award. You don't get "owt for nowt" they say in Yorkshire, but for a good few years we did. The membership deal is a fair one, apart from the song bank and streams, the support is invaluable. So thanks.
Sing Up Team Report this comment
Posted 14th Oct 2011 05:54
Hi All,
The limited funding which Government granted to Sing Up this year was provided in order to allow us to create a sustainable model from 2012. Like you, we believe in the power of singing to transform school life and we've been working to ensure that at the end of this funding cycle, schools will still be able to access all of the elements of Sing Up that they value most.
Mrs Shaw - the survey that you completed is just one part of a whole range of research that we've been conducting in order to put together the right packages for 2012, and continue to build upon the great achievements that we've all seen in schools using singing as part of their everyday life.
Please keep an eye on our website for more details in the new year, as we're also hoping to help by providing some ideas on how you can fundraise for your membership and ensure that the children you work with continue to enjoy the benefits of singing.
Regardless of sing up’s future we hope that all schools that have experienced the power of singing continue to be singing schools.
Mrs Shaw Report this comment
Posted 27th Sep 2011 09:49
I was asked yesterday to complete a survey asking about possible subscriptions to Sing Up from April 2012. The levels asked about were from £250 to £450 per year. There is no doubt that implementing an annual charge at this rate will stop many schools from using the website and songbank. I am deeply concerned about this.
Mrs Cochrane Report this comment
Posted 5th Feb 2011 04:37
Over the last 12 months my school has seen huge developments in singing. We are now the first school in knowsley to recieve a siver award and are almost ready to complete our evidence for a gold award. All teachers now regulalry use the song bank as a resource and use it in all different curriculum areas. The children are more confident, as well as the staff, we have a daily singing stop at lunchtimes and singing is the very heart of our school. Without the sing up website and songbank teachers and children would feel a huge gap again in the teaching and learning that has been so successful. Please keep this truly valuable resource in schools!
Sing Up Team Report this comment
Posted 2nd Dec 2010 01:37
Dear Mrs. Taylor,
Thank you for your feedback – it’s always useful for us to hear what our readers think about the magazine and its extras. All of the extra resources we send with the magazine are intended to help you embed good singing into your classroom, and we develop them using feedback we’ve had from teachers and students alike. In fact, the Sing Up Singing Stop was inspired by St Nicholas Primary School: www.singup.org/magazine/magazine-article/view/170-playground-voices/
If you don’t need the bonus extras that come with the magazine, why not offer them around your school?
Mrs Taylor Report this comment
Posted 18th Nov 2010 10:13
I'm delighted that Sing Up has increased the amount of singing in schools. But today I was sent a plastic sign and a CD box. I don't want or need either of these things. They're just 'stuff'. Please spend the money you've got on promoting singing not on wasteful things that no one needs and which are just wasting resources. Some of the songs you provide are about being green. It would make more sense to be green rather than to sing about it.
Sing Up Team Report this comment
Posted 19th Oct 2010 09:57
Hi Mr. Woods,
The government funding which supports Sing Up was always scheduled to run from 2007 up to March 2011, but that doesn’t mean we’re planning to finish! With a new government in place, and public sector spending cuts imminent, it is very difficult to predict the future for the funding of music education. However, we recognise that Sing Up has become invaluable for schools and are building a strong future for the programme, which includes the continuation of its resources and support, so that the proven benefits of singing within education can continue. In the meantime, please continue to use Sing Up as normal.
But you can help too! Our best chance of ensuring a future for Sing Up is to have ALL primary schools on board, and signed up to Sing Up. We’re approaching 90% engagement from primary schools, but if 100% are on board, that’s difficult to ignore!
So, if you feel strongly that Sing Up, and government funding for music education, should continue, please make sure that all the schools you know are registered and using Sing Up. You can also help by writing to us about how Sing Up has helped you and your school.
Mr Woods Report this comment
Posted 15th Oct 2010 12:31
What's the latest news regarding funding for Singup - will it be ending after the fourth year or are there plans to extend the funding? If the funding is not extended, then will that mean the demise of the singup website and the songbank?