Relaxing our Relaxed Singalong!

This is story of one of our most successful SEND initiatives to date and how through careful reflection between the team and with parents/carers we have found a winning formula.

Our “Relaxed Singalongs” are now a well-established part of our Fund B programme, “Music Forge”, and take place monthly at the Kettering Music and Performing Arts Centre.  The sessions are targeted at children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities as well as those with sensory impairments.

Kettering Centre itself is part of Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust’s network of 13 Saturday morning centres running across the county every week and part of a package of inclusive activities designed to suit all ages and abilities. You can find out more here:  http://www.nmpat.co.uk/out-of-school-activities/regional-music-and-performing-arts-centres/

The idea underpinning the sessions and the core approach we’ve developed was put forward by a local SEND Head of Music, and Chair of Thomas’ Fund, Jan Hall, together with the Kettering Centre Head, Karen Gawkowska. 

Some of the initial decisions were:

- The sessions should open and inclusive to the families as well as the core participants.

- The song repertoire would be such that it should be appealing to a wide range of ages and abilities.

- The sessions should be as “relaxed” as possible and cover a gap in the market that had been identified by Jan and other specialists in the area.

- Song lyrics and Makaton signs should be projected during songs and a Markton signer would be present.

- Have a break for tea and coffee halfway through…. and invite mainstream students attending the centre (e.g. the brass group, the string group etc.) to entertain the “troops”.

The sessions started back in 2014 and appeared successful enough in their delivery and execution, receiving good feedback from families. However, numbers were quite low with an average of three or four families at each session. We thought we could do better… and examined our marketing which covered the usual range of avenues – social media, direct marketing to special schools, posts on relevant networks, newsletters, flyers etc.

But, a big change came a few months in when our lead musician – a vocal specialist – had to leave to take up responsibilities elsewhere in the organisation.  This left us without the most essential member of the team, and no-one else on hand with the free time to take up the exact same role.

So, in consultation with our resident pianist/guitar player and our Makaton signer, we thought we would try and run the next session with the remaining team and see how things would pan out…. with less of a focus on a single vocal leader, and with the responsibility for leading on the singing spread more evenly between the team members.

The resulting session was less traditionally structured then previously, more organic and free flowing, but seemed to go well enough. Going through our reflections after the session it was decided to continue with this formula – i.e. an even more relaxed approach than before – but bring in one additional member, a colleague from a local special school who was also a drama specialist.

Over the next few months, numbers gradually began to pick until we have over 15 families regularly attending the session… which means there are often 40 people or more in the room. Certainly the vibe is more organic… some would say chaotic at times! But allowing the children much more freedom to engage or not as their mood suits, to play whichever instruments they want at whatever time they want (NB: although the sessions focus on singing the songs, we provide lots of instruments as well), seems to have paid off. 

Similarly, giving the team members/music leaders a genuine opportunity to reflect on their skills, take on a new challenge, and have a pro-active role in shaping the project, seems to have resulted in a very cohesive and mutually supportive team.  Thus, in really taking the title of the sessions – “Relaxed Singalongs” - to heart – has paid dividends in a relatively short space of time.

Are there any downsides or outstanding issues? Well, several parents have said that they prefer our “Relaxed Singalongs” to other provision, not only because they feel the atmosphere created is truly welcoming, but also because the children “don’t get homework”.

Now… in the context of delivering a Youth Music project this feels a challenging statement! Perhaps we are not providing enough structure. Perhaps this may lead to a lack of progress. But one of the team, Becky Higgins, noted that everyone involved spends much time and great care to model their behaviour and actions to guarantee the best possible interaction from the young people and give parents a lead as to what is expected both from their children and from themselves.

So… if this means Rebecca Price, our pianist and guitarist, ends up playing an “impromptu duet” with one of the participants in a crucial section of “Let It Go”…. or Sheila Slater, our Makaton signer, has to forgo her signing to interact with a child… and thereby distract their attention to impaling a cello with a triangle beater… the results and increased attendance seems to speak for themselves.

Have we seen positive changes in our participants? Certainly. Those who are attending regularly every month now, who may have appeared unresponsive to their environment initially, are now much more lively and engaged. More children are signing… and more parents are joining in with the signing. And whilst many of the children are non-verbal, there is increasing good cooperative behaviour and interaction between the children across all the ages.

Where to next? Well, the team has been across to work with some Rutland-based groups and we hope to expand on this provision over the year. Has it gone as well as in Kettering? No… or at least, not yet! Certainly this is a timely caution to remember that what appears to be a successful formula in one circumstance, may not always travel well elsewhere.

And back in Kettering, the group is just beginning to get a little too large for the room we are allocated. So, we have been negotiating the possibility of creating another session for the older PMLD children, who may want a more contemporary offering in their songs… or perhaps a mixed vocal/instrumental session for those with more moderate needs where there may be possibilities of integrating them into other activities in the future. 

You can find out more about the work of our Musical Inclusion Programme and the current project, Music Forge, here: http://www.nmpat.co.uk/music-education-hub/Pages/musical-inclusion-programme.aspx