Transform your school with Singing

Dr Liz Stafford reviews Sparkyard

It’s clear that Out of the Ark like to think about things. Their work always seems to be research-informed and problem-led. They seem genuinely interested in finding out what teachers’ concerns are and then providing solutions, rather than just whacking out a load of catchy tunes at regular intervals! For this, I like them a lot! Their latest offering, the subscription service Sparkyard carries on their work in this vein, but on a much bigger scale than we have seen before.

Growing out of their research with Professor Sue Hallam on how singing can support schools, Sparkyard is built around a massive repository of 1000 tried and tested songs. But it’s much more than just a songbank. Via an interface that is one of the most user-friendly that I’ve seen in education technology to date, teachers can access teaching tips, activity ideas and resources for each song. The multi-filter search function is a big plus, allowing teachers to find the songs they need with ease, and there are also options to favourite songs and collate them into a playlist or collection, which you can then share with other teachers and which your pupils can access from home. The songs can be played through Out of the Ark’s integrated interactive player, which was to my mind already one of the best on the market for user experience, and provides a much better rehearsal tool than a simple backing track.

Sparkyard is not just about singing though, it also provides a full skillsbased music curriculum, with flexible lesson plans and resources to make it really easy for non-specialist teachers to deliver. There is also a lovely collection of animated assemblies which include cartoons, songs to sing, and five different assembly plans so that you can tailor the assembly to suit your purposes. In addition, all 1000 songs come with cross-curricular ideas to complement their theme, making this a great all-rounder resource which can support every area of school life, not just music.

At a time when schools may be struggling to get back into singing after two years of silence, the release of Sparkyard feels extremely timely. I think it is a great addition to the music education technology market, and I anticipate that the brand name will soon become as familiar as some of the established curriculum schemes that we all know and love!