Sing Up in 2009 - Music Manifesto Feature

Since launching in 2007, the Music Manifesto's National Singing Programme, Sing Up, has succeeded in bringing singing into the centre of primary education.

This year has seen continued success and developments throughout the programme. With the number of registered members on the Sing Up website currently standing at 45,000, 83% of the country's state primary schools and 100% of local music services are signed up and regularly involved in Sing Up activity. Significant progress has been made in the programme's Beyond the Mainstream work and Sing Up Communities nationwide are continuing to flourish.

The programme has recently been focusing its attention on the concept of quality. Through comment and debate on the Sing Up Quality Blog the Sing Up community is looking at how to achieve excellence through high quality singing leadership. The Sing Up Awards programme has gone from strength to strength this year with 82 schools achieving Silver Awards, 62 achieving Gold and seven schools achieving the highest Sing Up accolade of a Platinum Award.

Burwell Village College in Cambridge is just one example of a vibrant singing school with Sing Up at the centre of musical activity. When music coordinator Nicola Plumb joined the school in 2005, one of her main aims was to raise the profile of music and singing within the school community. Four years later, pupils at Burwell are singing at least three times a week in the classroom, taking part in regular singing assemblies and in July 2009 achieved a Gold Sing Up Award.

"Sing Up has brought a sense of fun back into singing at school," says Nicola. "We select a Song of the Week that children take into their classes. They then can write comments on the Song of the Week boards and also write their own verses or versions."

Sing Up resources are used across the curriculum and all members of staff are now confident in leading singing within their lessons. "The fact Sing Up was a government supported initiative made the whole school community realise that singing is an incredibly important aspect of school life," says Nicola. "Sing Up helped to provide a focus for us all as a school with fantastic resources that all teachers could use confidently within the classroom."

The positive effects of singing in the school have not gone unnoticed in official assessments. Singing was given particular mention in a recent Ofsted inspection, which noted: "We liked all of the music in school, especially the singing in assembly. It was so good it sent shivers down our spine... high quality singing and great enthusiasm from the pupils."

Burwell's singing activity is by no means confined within the school walls. The school choir performs regularly at a local home for the elderly, annually at the Newmarket races and also as part of an annual choir festival organised by Nicola herself. In May 2010 the festival will take place in Ely Cathedral and involve collaboration with 12 primary schools and the local secondary. Using a selection of Sing Up gospel songs as part of the repertoire, this ambitious event promises to encourage relationships between local schools and aid transition between primary and secondary education in the area - all thanks to the power of singing.

Rush Green Primary School in Essex is another trailblazer in the world of Sing Up. With the help of Sing Up resources, music coordinator Carley Smith has been able extend singing from assemblies into the classroom. The Sing Up

Song Bank provides backing tracks to a varied mix of repertoire so that all members of staff can use the songs as introductions to specific topics. "Accessibility is the most positive aspect of the Sing Up programme," says Carley. "All teachers can use it!"

Earlier this year the whole school was involved in a Sing Up X Factor competition where each year group performed a song from the Song Bank and were judged by a panel of staff trying out their Simon Cowell impressions. According to Carley, this event combined with the collective effort made towards achieving a Sing Up Gold Award has raised the profile of singing within the school as well as providing staff and pupils with something to strive towards and, ultimately, a great sense of achievement.

Having successfully embedded singing activity as a major part of school life, Carley is now aiming for excellence: "I want to expand the 40-strong school choir, introduce more singing in parts and work to ensure that the children are singing really well," she says.

In light of the programme's achievements to date, Sing Up seems set to move into the New Year with increasing momentum and continued success. Singing is fast becoming an integral aspect of primary education and recognition of the value of singing in a child's learning and development is becoming firmly established in the national mindset.

This feature was originally published by Music Manifesto, the campaign to improve music education 2004 – 2010.

For more information, check out the About Us Area.