Silver singers, from strength to strength

Silver singers, from strength to strength

The Headteacher at Grimsby's St Martin's Preparatory School, recipient of our first ever Silver Award, recounts the school's Sing Up journey

One morning in June 2008, I found on my desk a small glossy brochure that our Music Coordinator, Sarah Dalziel, had received from Sing Up.

We chatted about it and she asked if she could attend a local training day to see exactly what it was all about. I was quite excited at the thought of being able to re-introduce singing into the heart of our school and so we both agreed: "Let's try it, this could be quite fun!"

On a wet September day, Sarah attended a Sing Up workshop in Grimsby. On arrival she was greeted by Workshop Leader Amelia Kasmi. Sarah wasn't sure what to expect but she found it amusing, interesting and soon realised that Sing Up was just what we needed in our school - and at just the right time too. She got hold of helpful hand-outs and there was plenty to take on board. She then learnt about the Sing Up Awards, and felt it was a positive way for our school to map out our Sing Up journey. Back at school, and full of excitement, she happily told Sing Up, "I really have been inspired. I'm certain this is what we've been looking for and can't wait to get started! The Award scheme looks great; I'd like to register St Martin's immediately."

So that was that! By the end of the afternoon we were signed up to Sing Up, and had pledged towards the Silver Award. Our students and staff had something exciting to work towards, and it wasn't just written work or tests. I was handed further information on what we were going to achieve and the criteria our school had to meet. It was a communal school effort and everyone had to be prepared to make change. Some staff members - myself included - were not too confident with singing, but with the help of the Song Bank and plenty of fun songs, slowly we all embraced it.

UNITED IN SONG

Focusing on the curriculum, age and musical ability, Sarah would search the Song Bank weekly, deciding which area to concentrate on, for example French, Maths, English or History. The fun new songs were introduced as part of our Music sessions and then taken back into the classroom. This was great; no musical instruments were required, no one had to be a superb singer and everyone was learning. Children became more focused once they started singing and every child could join in. Singing became a real team effort, building confidence, happiness, concentration and memory skills within the classroom. I noticed children automatically smiling when they sang, and that was fantastic to see.

Gradually, we all worked towards our Silver Award, gaining more confidence as a singing school. We held regular singing each Friday and formed two choirs. Soon, it because clear that children were singing at home and in the playground, and staff could hear them making up their own songs too. This really was uplifting! Maths lessons suddenly became fun; even Year 1 students were confidently reciting even and odd numbers back to me through the help of the Number crunchers song.

In December 2008, we were preparing for our Christmas concerts, and chose songs from the Song Bank. Parents were interested to see what we'd been learning and excited to see their children performing. It was the perfect opportunity for parents to come and for the children to perform to an audience; we were all so proud. Despite our nerves it went exceptionally well, and within a few days we'd submitted our final report to Sing Up. We sat and waited anxiously for a reply - we had put so much effort into our singing.

Finally on 16 December, an email came through filled with congratulations on our achievement. To our pleasant surprise, not only had we gained the Award but discovered we were the first Silver Award school in the whole country! As you can imagine we were absolutely delighted and the children screamed with excitement.

We wanted to shout it from the rooftops and let others know how hard we'd worked, and what we had achieved. We were certainly taken by surprise - Grimsby is a small town and St Martin's is not a large school, so this really was a magnificent achievement for our local area, let alone our school. We held a celebration event, invited all the parents and let the children decide which song to sing. For our grand finale, there were more than 100 children singing on stage. We had the local press, radio and television all wanting to make our children stars. My students had such a wonderful experiene and are very fortunate. They learned about media coverage and were excited to be singing on television.

My aim was to introduce singing back into the heart of our school. Not only have we done that but we've gone one step further, and brought singing right into our everyday studies within a typical classroom set-up.

The benefits for the children here are evident as soon as you enter our setting. Beaming faces, singing in the playground and in every curriculum area you can think of. Visitors and prospective new parents have observed and commented on the positive vibes emanating from staff, children and parents. Creating this positive, happy atmosphere is helping our school to go from strength to strength. The children are aware that singing is a significant part of our curriculum, and will continue to enjoy it. They understand that it's not only fun, but it also helps them learn.

With support from Sing Up, help from the Song Bank and using cross-curricular links, we've really embraced singing. Sing Up is an integral part of our school now, which as a management team we are extremely happy about. As always, we look to the future and are looking towards our next stage. I'm now confident and excited aiming towards the Gold Award; we certainly are a proud 'St Martin's Silver Singing School'.

Words: Stephen Thompson

Take note

You can to find out more about the Sing Up Awards, by visiting the awards section of the site.