Bringing pupils together through music and the arts Cross-sector partnerships involving music and the arts enable pupils to explore new talents and express themselves through creativity. While some of these partnerships were limited by coronavirus restrictions, many schools are starting to return to their pre-pandemic programme of events. During the last academic year, staff members at City of London Freemen’s School planned to offer music lessons for Year 4 pupils in local schools, culminating in a joint performance of all students in July. Unfortunately, COVID disruption prevented this project from taking place – and so a different approach was taken, leading to the creation of the Freemen’s Music Partnership. Each term, six pre-recorded lessons were shared with local and City partner schools, leading to an end-of-term digital performance from each school combined into one collaborative piece, produced by Freemen’s alumni Timothy Peters.
“The students from Eagles class really enjoyed the interactive dance session. They had great fun learning the new routines and putting it all together to create a final dance. They said it was a challenge, however the teacher broke it down in small chunks so they were able to achieve the final result.”
“A good musical education with singing at its heart should in my opinion be the birth-right of every child.” Cathy Lamb, Lichfield Cathedral director of MusicShare School works with Lichfield Cathedral and The Music Partnership to deliver MusicShare, a programme which aims to bring the joy of singing to thousands of children across the West Midlands. PreCOVID, the programme worked with around 150 schools per year, and despite the disruption, those involved are beginning to reclaim this work. MusicShare staff teach the children though a mixture of core projects and one-off workshops, culminating in a performance in front of family, friends and the local community. Young Singing Leaders, many of whom are choristers and former choristers, also visit schools to show other children what they can achieve if they work hard and rehearse regularly. During lockdown, MusicShare was able to create a large bank of resources, and delivered a number of sessions to schools online.
This year, Luckley House School invited pupils from four local prep and primary schools to its first ever virtual dance workshop. The event, which took place in April to mark International Dance Day, was led by Rachel Kempton, the school’s dance specialist. Pupils in years 5 and 6 came together to learn some street style choreography, which they then practised and performed as part of a routine in front of the other schools. This autumn, pupils in years 5 to 8 have been invited to another dance workshop as part of the school’s Masterclass Programme, and it is hoped that these events will continue to run every year, in person.
Emma Caswell, Year 5 teacher at Beechwood Primary School
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