Music to the Ears
Youth projects aim to get youngsters raising the roof
Sing Up Communities aim to improve singing provision for children of all ages in targeted areas of the country.
With a specific focus on 8-14 year olds, there are currently nine Sing Up Communities being run in England, all by different organisations including music services, primary school clusters and Youth Music Action Zones.
Of these nine, four are supported through existing Youth Music funding – Sing Up Cumbria, Sing Up Burton, Sing Up Lincs and Sing Up East Coast – and five are funded by government through Sing Up – Sing Up Devon, Sing Up Bolton, Sing Up East Kent, Sing Up Dales and Sing Up Southampton.
Each project aims to reach 2,000 children over the course of two years, and will focus mainly on out-of-school-hours projects ranging from residential courses to community choirs and composition projects based on the ideas and experiences of the children involved.
All of the nine communities are currently undergoing a research and development phase that will inform an 18-month programme of work, beginning for most in January 2008. During this development time, each of the organisations is working closely with other partners in their region to ensure that all of the programmes are switched on to local and regional priorities and are making the most of existing opportunities both with musical activity and with other youth programmes.
Steering group
A particular target for partnership delivery are Extended Schools Programmes, to ensure that the Sing Up Communities are maximising potential in and out of school hours and are developing singing programmes that will be sustainable beyond the twoyear delivery phase.
A good example of this is Sing Up Cumbria, lead by Soundwave, who have established an excellent relationship with their three local Extended Services teams and are working closely with them to establish an exciting and relevant programme of activity.
Dave Camlin, Director of the organisation, says of the project: “Working with Extended Services both on the initial bid for Sing Up Communities, and on the steering group for the project has been a fantastic partnership. We now have partners who are passionate about the opportunity and able to disseminate information down through their networks amazingly well.
“From their point of view, they get an exciting opportunity to build into the overall package of Study Support across the county. It’s a win-win situation, and the longer term outlook is really healthy, as it means we now have a single partnership in the county able to take a cohesive overview of singing opportunities.”
Diverse range
As well as delivering a diverse range of singing activity informed by youth consultation, each Sing Up Community has a strong focus on training and development needs for singing in their area. Many of the communities, including Sing Up Cumbria and Sing Up East Coast, will be working alongside The Sage Gateshead’s Vocal Force to provide a range of joined-up activity, thus spreading the benefits further and making singing a priority across whole regions. Teachers, youth leaders and community members will be the focus of training choirs and CPD programmes, ensuring the life of each programme beyond its active course.
In each Sing Up Community, the majority of the activity is directed at children and young people who have little or no previous experience of singing, with more than 75 per cent of participants for whom this kind of singing work will be a new activity.
Particular areas needing attention are singing work with boys, and also projects focusing on primary/secondary transition. Sing Up East Coast will be working in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and they have a number of exciting activities planned, to engage what have previously been difficult communities to connect with.
Football anthem
As well as residential camps for children and youth leaders, Sing Up East Coast have secured additional European funding for exchanges with Portugal and Madrid, where some of their participants will be able to take part in activity. They also plan to create a European Cup Song for the football competition in 2008, celebrating the diverse international community in the area, that will be available for download and on CD.
In addition to this, activities aimed specifically at boys include beatboxing and Haka projects.
Each of the nine Sing Up Communities has something different and exciting to offer and has many challenges to face over the next two years. Under the guidance of the Sing Up Team they will be working together to share ideas and experiences in order to further promote and learn from each other’s successes. At the end of the programmes, it is hoped that there will be a legacy of sustainable activity that can be enjoyed by many thousands of children and young people and that it will continue to grow, working towards a network of joined up singing communities across the country.
For more information about Sing Up Communities click here.
Sing Up Communities aim to improve singing provision for children of all ages in targeted areas of the country.
With a specific focus on 8-14 year olds, there are currently nine Sing Up Communities being run in England, all by different organisations including music services, primary school clusters and Youth Music Action Zones.
Of these nine, four are supported through existing Youth Music funding – Sing Up Cumbria, Sing Up Burton, Sing Up Lincs and Sing Up East Coast – and five are funded by government through Sing Up – Sing Up Devon, Sing Up Bolton, Sing Up East Kent, Sing Up Dales and Sing Up Southampton.
Each project aims to reach 2,000 children over the course of two years, and will focus mainly on out-of-school-hours projects ranging from residential courses to community choirs and composition projects based on the ideas and experiences of the children involved.
All of the nine communities are currently undergoing a research and development phase that will inform an 18-month programme of work, beginning for most in January 2008. During this development time, each of the organisations is working closely with other partners in their region to ensure that all of the programmes are switched on to local and regional priorities and are making the most of existing opportunities both with musical activity and with other youth programmes.
Steering group
A particular target for partnership delivery are Extended Schools Programmes, to ensure that the Sing Up Communities are maximising potential in and out of school hours and are developing singing programmes that will be sustainable beyond the twoyear delivery phase.
A good example of this is Sing Up Cumbria, lead by Soundwave, who have established an excellent relationship with their three local Extended Services teams and are working closely with them to establish an exciting and relevant programme of activity.
Dave Camlin, Director of the organisation, says of the project: “Working with Extended Services both on the initial bid for Sing Up Communities, and on the steering group for the project has been a fantastic partnership. We now have partners who are passionate about the opportunity and able to disseminate information down through their networks amazingly well.
“From their point of view, they get an exciting opportunity to build into the overall package of Study Support across the county. It’s a win-win situation, and the longer term outlook is really healthy, as it means we now have a single partnership in the county able to take a cohesive overview of singing opportunities.”
Diverse range
As well as delivering a diverse range of singing activity informed by youth consultation, each Sing Up Community has a strong focus on training and development needs for singing in their area. Many of the communities, including Sing Up Cumbria and Sing Up East Coast, will be working alongside The Sage Gateshead’s Vocal Force to provide a range of joined-up activity, thus spreading the benefits further and making singing a priority across whole regions. Teachers, youth leaders and community members will be the focus of training choirs and CPD programmes, ensuring the life of each programme beyond its active course.
In each Sing Up Community, the majority of the activity is directed at children and young people who have little or no previous experience of singing, with more than 75 per cent of participants for whom this kind of singing work will be a new activity.
Particular areas needing attention are singing work with boys, and also projects focusing on primary/secondary transition. Sing Up East Coast will be working in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft and they have a number of exciting activities planned, to engage what have previously been difficult communities to connect with.
Football anthem
As well as residential camps for children and youth leaders, Sing Up East Coast have secured additional European funding for exchanges with Portugal and Madrid, where some of their participants will be able to take part in activity. They also plan to create a European Cup Song for the football competition in 2008, celebrating the diverse international community in the area, that will be available for download and on CD.
In addition to this, activities aimed specifically at boys include beatboxing and Haka projects.
Each of the nine Sing Up Communities has something different and exciting to offer and has many challenges to face over the next two years. Under the guidance of the Sing Up Team they will be working together to share ideas and experiences in order to further promote and learn from each other’s successes. At the end of the programmes, it is hoped that there will be a legacy of sustainable activity that can be enjoyed by many thousands of children and young people and that it will continue to grow, working towards a network of joined up singing communities across the country.
For more information about Sing Up Communities click here.
