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Singing our way to School

My name is Ian Goddard and I am part of a Community Interest initiative called Thrive and Grow.

We exist to secure funding for educational and cultural activities in Sandwell: a part of the Black Country area in the West Midlands.

We have been very fortunate to receive funding for a project we call “Singing our way to School” which is for pre-school and early years children in Sandwell aimed at improving developmental standards so that children might overcome some of their disadvantages when starting school.

Early years children in Sandwell need extra help and the Tipton area has even more need due to very high levels of economic deprivation. Tipton is the third poorest ward in the thirteenth poorest local authority area in England with 40% of children living in poverty. Children here have been estimated to be 19 months behind when they start school and struggle to overcome this unfortunate legacy.

“Singing our way to School” was designed to make positive interventions in children’s lives in three local authority schools, three public libraries and two trust owned nurseries. The main aim being to use music to improve language and communication skills as well as tackle some of the personal and social issues which cause problems when they start school.

Now, more than half way through the project it is a good time to reflect on how the project is unfolding compared to its initial aims.

Firstly, we have conducted nearly 100 drop-in music sessions in three public libraries over the course of the last year. Libraries in Sandwell are under severe financial pressure and were delighted to be able to host free early years music sessions which they would otherwise not be able to offer. The aim was to reach out to children not currently attending formal nursery settings and begin the process of introducing them to musical activities which could be broadly described as “School Readiness”. These mostly consisted of standard nursey rhyme based activities using those familiar songs as a device to teach rhythm, language, social skills and use of varied instruments. Parents and carers were also shown how to reinforce beneficial learning using music at home.

The main success of the Library work has been engaging hard to reach children and parents, often for the first time, in a neutral community setting. Families wary of Children’s Centres who can’t afford nursery fees feel easier about coming to the familiar local library for a relaxed, informal and fun music session where their children can socialise in a non-judgmental setting. Children who have never sang or played with others, and maybe rarely even left their house, have been able to take the first steps to a successful transition to school. Parents have left with improved confidence and ideas to use at home. Some have left with basic instruction in how to play the ukulele.

An example of how the library music sessions had positive effects was Mustapha, who had no English language and very little ability to successfully interact with other children of a similar age. At first he refused to take any part, staying close to his mother and being quite distressed when prompted to join in with percussion activities. After a few weeks he started to sit together with his peers and explore the instrument box, although he had little concept of sharing. By the end of that term, Mustapha had learned to sing two or three nursery rhymes and was able to keep reasonable time with a drum. More importantly, he was on his way to interacting positively with other children, away from his mother, an important skill for school.

The second major part of our work has been in the three local primary school nurseries. There is no statutory requirement to fund music for early years in schools so our offer to conduct music sessions on a regular basis was welcomed enthusiastically. The main aim in the schools was to address the all too familiar issues around poor educational and social development but with a specific emphasis on the seven areas of The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. The schools all have rigorous testing and reporting systems in place which ultimately have to satisfy The Schools Inspectorate. For the project to work we had to prove we were making a positive difference in seven areas, each graded in five ways across 30 individual children...I have never seen so much paperwork!

Using the seven core EYFS areas and incorporating each schools individual themes for each term. Eg Autumn or Nature or even Dinosaurs, we set off with ambitious plans for quite complex and challenging activities. Soon, we realised that some of the children hadn’t mastered sitting down let alone keeping time whilst singing. In discussion with the teachers and assistants we went back to the basics of nursery rhymes and built up from there. After several weeks we were able to introduce more ambitious activities such as action songs with different musical accompaniments and move on to the culmination of end of term productions for parents. The Xmas show at one of the schools was an impressive display of singing and percussion which parents were very pleased with.

A particular highlight of the schools work was helping the children to write their own lyrics to a well- known tune. This higher order activity was designed to allow the children to move beyond mere parroting of familiar songs and to think about creatively using language to make something new and unique. The task was to write a “School Song” to be performed during assembly and at future parents events. Using the tune to Twinkle twinkle little star, we were able to write and perform a unique song which emphasised the values of each of the schools. Quite an impressive achievement and testimony to a full school year of interventions from professional musical educators.

The third focus of the project has been two nurseries, one private and one run by a national Trust. The early years nursery sector is currently under severe financial strain and completely unable to pay for any live music sessions. Apart from TV, this was the first time any of the children had seen adults making music. Here, the main challenge has been to stimulate and engage groups of children from 2 to 4 years of age who display a very wide range of abilities and skills. Some of the children knew nursery rhymes and were able to use basic percussion instruments whereas a substantial proportion were so lacking in confidence they were unable to speak let alone sing.

One of the most successful techniques to encourage those mute children to sing was the introduction of the karaoke machine. The miraculous ability to amplify voices, and no doubt the flashing lights as well, led to a queue of children wanting to perform with the microphone while the practitioner played their instrument. Children with quiet voices could be heard by others for the first time. Children could hear for the first time how their own voices sounded, including those with speech difficulties. Of all the strategies to encourage participation, this was the most powerful.

So far this project has made bold advances towards achieving its aims. Although it is difficult to measure progress in areas such as communication and confidence in the real world, we are convinced each setting is better for our sessions, each child a little more ready to sing her way to school.

Ian Goddard

 September 2018