Inventing, Experimenting, Growing - Musical Creativity Meets Productivity
Josh Cadman
Director at Sing Education | Drawing together first class music teacher, training and curriculum resources for primary schools.
Sing Education's Full Service Provision Model for Modern Music Education
“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.”
If you’re familiar with Sing Education then you won’t be surprised that creativity plays an enormous role in how we design, develop and deliver our outstanding school music programming.
To build and execute their individual music plan, we worked closely with the headteacher, music lead and teaching staff at each of our more than 80 partner schools across the UK.
And though plans across schools or academic trusts may share certain key hallmarks - such as regular curricular music lessons and the opportunities for clubs, choirs and instrumental tuition - each MDP, music timetable and specialist teacher assignment is a unique and creative expression of that school’s particular vision, values, objectives and community setting.
For even more information, practical tips and guidance to help you design a great school music programme, click to download the Guide to School Music Budgeting .
One size definitely does not fit all.?
And if you’re not yet familiar with Sing Education, we hope this introduction to our full service music provision, music specialist staff, planning and curriculum resources, as well as our senior leadership team, will encourage you to dive deeper with us.
Inventing - Great School Music Rests on Firm Foundations
“The 2021 Model Music Curriculum (MMC) sits at the heart of the Government’s agenda for supporting curriculum music in schools during Key Stages 1, 2 and 3.?
The curriculum development has been teacher led, with input from leading musicians and education sector bodies. [Complementing the National Plan for Music Education, it sets forth] a model of how the curriculum can be delivered, [while offering] guidance and ideas for teachers, and provid[ing] a springboard from which to approach teaching.” GOV1
However, as anyone (Santa, included!) who’s ever sat parked up on the drive facing an arduous day’s travel ahead will know - while having the end destination in mind is vital to achieving anything worthwhile - without a great set of directions, a reliable vehicle to get you there and fuel to power your journey, your chances of successfully completing your mission are nigh on nil.
That’s where Sing Education comes in. We equip our schools with every support needed for excellent school music. From planning, budgeting and evaluation support to staffing, curriculum and management, we help our schools turn their statutory music requirement into a thing of beauty.?
When built around a whole school/whole pupil model, music education elevates from core subject matter to transformative artform. It takes on the capacity to:
In other words, we not only get you to your destination - providing the maps, car, driver and fuel - but we get you there in style.
For even more information, practical tips and guidance to help you design a great school music programme, click to download the Guide to School Music Budgeting .
Experimenting - What’s The Recipe for Great School Music?
It starts with curricular music.
Designed to provide children with active music-making and progressive musical learning from Early Years through to the end of year 6, Sing Education prides itself on our bespoke curriculum.
Sing Education lessons are high-energy and engaging, with singing at the core. Children are making music and singing all the way through their music lessons. We believe that curriculum time should be the backbone of all good music-making in schools.?
In addition, our music lessons follow a sequenced and progressive curriculum, fully in line with the Model Music Curriculum and Development Matters, building pupils' skill and knowledge incrementally to prepare them for KS3 and the wider world of music.
Then add a healthy dash of extracurricular opportunities.
Clubs and choirs – whether after school or at lunchtimes – are an excellent way to round out curricular music. They give pupils the chance to let off musical steam, singing and playing instruments to their hearts’ content. They also allow mixed age groups to work together and to be challenged musically with new repertoire.
Instrumental and singing lessons also deliver a wealth of benefits to students – they enable pupils to explore their musicality in small group or individual settings; they help widen pupils musical landscapes; they enable independent music making; they impact wellbeing and confidence.?
For even more information, practical tips and guidance to help you design a great school music programme, click to download the Guide to School Music Budgeting .
And moreover, by having an instrumental and singing programme in place, you can build school ensembles and put on performances for the wider community. Bring instrumental and singing lessons to your school and inspire a new generation of musicians.
Sprinkle in high-quality, well-trained music specialists
Sing Education’s success in the classroom is built on the foundations of what we do outside the classroom. Our approach to teacher recruitment, performance management and team training are among our key USPs. Plus we see the fruit everyday in teachers who enjoy long happy careers with us and schools that love their music professionals.
Sing Education recruits, develops and manages the very best music teachers for our partner schools. Yes, we look for vocal and instrumental talent, but we also assess whether candidates have the skills to successfully teach young children. Do they fit our culture, uphold our ethos? Only the best will do.
Bring to a simmer with first-class resources including OFSTED deep dive support
For instance, we might work alongside your internal music coordinator or class teachers themselves to ensure that music provision is unified and works across the board. That includes everything from curricular music to choirs, clubs, SEN groups, instrumental tuition, singing assemblies and more.?
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We collaboratively develop bespoke progression maps and schemes of work, which represent the programme’s medium and long-term planning. These tools are also great for reporting – for class teachers to develop reports and updates for parents on what the children have been learning.?
But, most importantly, these tools enable us to track the progress of pupils which can subsequently be used for Ofsted planning. Our progression maps and schemes of work allow schools to clearly demonstrate that their music curriculum is progressive and is in line with the new framework.?
For even more information, practical tips and guidance to help you design a great school music programme, click to download the Guide to School Music Budgeting .
Growing - The Future of Music Education
At Sing Education, we are never content to rest on our laurels.?
Working to solve the challenges of the 21st century classroom? Need to understand the future of music education? Wonder how technology, pupil safeguarding, classroom management and staff CPD fit in???
Meet Josh Cadman, Sing Education’s Director for Operations. We sat down with him over a cuppa to ask some penetrating questions about the direction of travel for music education and new models for classroom leadership.
Here’s what he shared.
Tell us about your role at Sing Education.
My role at Sing Education is Director of Operations. I'm one of the founding directors and I founded Sing Education with Alice and Bert 10 years ago. My role spans all areas of the business - from recruitment, through to sales and finance through to operations and administration, and everything else in between! I also work alongside the other two directors to coordinate strategy for the business.
What is the biggest challenge for educators right now?
Probably a challenge that's been around forever, especially in the primary sector. Being pulled in so many different directions curriculum-wise. The curriculum, the timetable, is the biggest pressure in a lot of ways because you're trying to cover off so many different subjects.?
How is Sing Education different from other music education solutions?
Our curriculum is not off the shelf. It's been developed over a long time in-house by us and that development of expertise in curriculum development means that we have a very strong education team who train our teachers to be fantastic music teachers. It also means that our music teachers have a fantastic curriculum to teach. That's robust, challenging, engaging, full of active music making.
How do you build a bespoke music programme?
The backbone of any good music provision is the curricular time. So whenever we're working with a new primary school, the first things we look at are the constraints of the timetable. We’re looking to maximise curricular time and distribute it properly, making sure that lesson lengths are long enough in the right age ranges.?
What’s the best part of your day?
I think the best parts, the bits I kind of most enjoy, are the moments of collaboration. We have an amazing administration team, a management team. When I get moments to work together with them and collaborate on projects, especially getting into the nitty-gritty and getting my hands dirty, that’s when I’m happiest.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
I went through various iterations. I wanted to be a doctor for a long time. I wanted to do something in engineering. But I was also good at maths and it was one of my favourite subjects. However, starting with guitar at age four, music has always been my primary passion.
For even more information, practical tips and guidance to help you design a great school music programme, click to download the Guide to School Music Budgeting .
To learn more about Sing Education, including how our curricular provision, 1:1 and small group instrumental lessons plus at home music learning resources contribute to a well-rounded music programme, please visit singeducation.co.uk/schools
About Us
Founded in 2014 and serving more than 28,000 children each week, Sing Education is a first class provider of primary school music education. Focusing on high-quality, singing-led tuition, we deliver a complete solution for schools which includes teacher recruitment, training and management, bespoke curricular resources and educational consultancy services.
Through music lessons, singing assemblies, choirs, after school clubs and instrumental tuition, Sing Education works with students from Nursery right through to Year 6. Our core philosophy is that “Every Child Has A Voice,” and, as educators active in the classroom, our directors and teachers know firsthand how much young learners benefit from exciting, rewarding music education.?
Sing Education currently partners with more than 80 schools across Greater London and Kent, as well as Yorkshire and the Humber.?
Not yet on the list? Please enquire about our expansion plans for additional areas we will serve during the 2023-24 academic year.
#SingEducation #PrimarySchoolMusicEducation #EveryChildHasAVoice
Sources:
Model Music Curriculum: Key Stages 1 to 3 Gov.uk GOV1