PROFESSIONAL D E V E L O P M E N T

ISM Head of Charity Development

Ruth McPherson introduces our new resource produced with the Voices Foundation

The benefits of singing

Singing is a universal instrument – we all have a voice. It is integral to musical learning and a powerful way for children and young people to become proficient musicians.

Singing has also been shown to alleviate stress and improve children’s alertness, behaviour and self-esteem. It helps them bond – whatever the song or language. Through singing, young people can share emotions and express themselves non-verbally.

For all these reasons, the ISM has long advocated for singing to be at the heart of any school.

Finding your voice

To help primar y teachers develop the skills to lead singing in the classroom, the ISM Trust and Voices Foundation, with the support of the Schools Music Association, have launched a free new music education resource: the Primary Singing Toolkit.

It can be nerve-wracking for a teacher to sing in front of their class, and many primary teachers have had little or no musical training. This is why the Toolkit has been specifically designed to help non-specialist primar y teachers build their confidence when running music lessons, and find their own singing voices at the same time.

Embedding singing into classroom lessons works best when teachers have confidence in their own abilities. With the English National Plan for Music Education calling on schools to use singing as a ‘golden thread’ to run through all primary education, and the National Curriculum in all areas of the UK requiring children to learn to sing and use their voices, there has never been a greater need for teachers to develop that confidence.

What’s in the resource?

The Primary Singing Toolkit is made up of 14 videos, accompanying notes and lesson plans, which offer inspirational and practical singing strategies. It can be accessed and downloaded free of charge from the ISM Trust website

The videos and lesson plans take a holistic approach to singing, and cover areas including pitch and composition, notation, healthy singing practices and leading a choir.

The videos follow Voices Foundation’s Musicianship and Choral Directors, Jenny Trattles and Charles MacDougall, supporting non-specialist music teachers at Winterton Junior School, a state primary school in North Lincolnshire. Jenny and Charles teach a song in bitesize steps, which are easy for teachers to follow and imitate in their own schools

Watch the webinar

A free webinar, jointly hosted by the ISM Trust and Voices Foundation, saw over 140 people sign up to watch Trattles and MacDougall lead a practical demonstration of some of the lessons included in the Toolkit, including conducting a school choir They were introduced to the traditional Guyanese sea shanty, ‘Essequibo River,’ which runs throughout the entire resource.

You can watch a recording of the webinar on the ISM Trust website: ismtrust.org

Response to the resource

In just two months since its launch at the Music & Drama Education Expo 2023, the Toolkit has been viewed over 3,500 times, and received positive reviews.

Users of the resource have described it as ‘ fantastically informative and accessible to everyone’, ‘really excellent’ and ‘ ver y helpful and enjoyable – just what I needed!’.

Access the free resource: ismtrust.org/primary-singing-toolkit

‘I would urge all primary schools to download this new resource … This is primary music teaching at its best and a valuable resource has been created for all schools. The ideas demonstrated are an exemplar for further lessons on how to use the singing voice in the classroom.’

Suzi Digby OBE said: ‘The Primary Singing Toolkit is an absolutely vital resource. It brings the very essence of singing and its peerless value into the classroom. It gives non-specialist primary teachers the resources, skills and confidence to teach music, through singing, that they bring to other key subjects. By building “from the curriculum”, through the medium of singing, this will bring the highest quality music lessons to all children, not just to those deemed as musically talented. And, most importantly, it will give the skills and confidence to our primary teachers for life.’

ISM Trust

As passionate advocates of singing in schools and high quality music education for all, the ISM’s sister charity, the ISM Trust, devised the Primary Singing Toolkit to give music educators an accessible starting point.

ISM Chief Executive, Deborah Annetts, said she aims for the resource to ‘help teachers build their confidence to sing with their pupils, to support schools to deliver the National Plan in England and to be of much use to teachers in all nations of the UK. As a subject association for music, we pride ourselves on delivering resources that help bring music into the classroom.’

Top of opposite page and below: Voices Foundation training sessions

Photo: Voices Foundation

Voices Foundation

Music charity Voices Foundation has been championing the power and importance of singing for 30 years. This partnership with the ISM Trust is its latest initiative for helping schools and communities to develop their music education.

Voices Foundation was founded in 1993 by choral conductor, music educator, and ISM President 2012-13, Suzi Digby OBE. Her main inspiration was the observation of the work of the renowned music educationalist Zoltan Kodāly in Hungary.

Since its formation, Voices Foundation has worked in hundreds of primary schools across the UK, transforming them into Singing Schools. Their Musical Foundations programme supports schools in establishing a progressive music curriculum and develops teachers’ skills and confidence to teach music through singing. They also run Choral Excellence programmes to promote a culture of whole-school ensemble singing, further helping children’s vocal and musical development.

Manvinder Rattan, Voices Foundation CEO, said, ‘I’m delighted to have brought this valuable project to fruition in partnership with the ISM Trust, which has placed considerable confidence in us to produce such a high-quality, accessible and relevant gqy learning resource. The toolkit will help more teachers effectively lead singing in their schools. And this can only be a good thing; our impact measurements indicate that children who sing are happier, and if happier, are likely to have a more fulfilling time at school, in the broadest sense. I very much hope that the Primary Singing Toolkit may have a positive impact on hildren’s children’s singing in this country.’