PETERBOROUGH SINGING
STRATEGY
JULIET RUSSELL
MAY - JULY 2013
Tuned by Peterborough Music Partnership August 2013 to reflect
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ... PAGE 3 SINGING STRATEGY RECOMMENDATIONS ... PAGE 4 CORE RECOMMENDATION 1 - CPD ... PAGE 5 CORE RECOMMENDATION 2 - CONNECTIVITY ... PAGE 7 CORE RECOMMENDATION 3 - BUILD ON EXISTING ... PAGE 8 CORE RECOMMENDATION 4 - ARTIST DEVELOPMENT ... PAGE 12 PETERBOROUGH SINGING DEVELOPMENT PLAN ... PAGE 13 NOTES TO SINGING DEVELOPMENT PLAN ... PAGE 13 SUMMARY ... PAGE 15 NOTES TO CONSULTATION ... PAGE 16
Juliet Russell May - July 2013
PETERBOROUGH SINGING STR A TEGY
INTRODUCTION
I want to start this report with a thank you to all contributors. whose generosity with their time and experience has shaped the strategy. I have been inspired by the descriptions and examples of work that I have encountered, as well as the clear commitment by many individuals to enrich young people‟s lives through singing and music.
This is potentially a very exciting time for singing and music in Peterborough, with an allocated budget specifically dedicated to supported singing activity and the creation of a music hub
partnership. Like any similar opportunity, it is important that the resources available are used strategically to have maximum impact and legacy. My focus has been to explore what is working well for singing in Peterborough and to look at where it can be better supported, more reflective of its communities and where it can engage more widely and flourish.
People as producers rather than consumers underpins the ethos of the strategy. I am interested in creative approaches including the creation and presentation of new work, collaboration, cross-arts and building an environment where good practice can be shared, celebrated, developed and sustained. The development of a skilled and confident workforce, including peer
mentors and young artists / leaders, is crucial to this, as is the recognition and utilization of the excellent practices and people who already exist. The strategy focuses on young people, but should be relevant and reverberate more widely too.
I believe that the greatest resource Peterborough has is its people - its young people as well as its teachers, leaders, musicians and community members. Communication, connection and creativity are key. There are a lot of individuals and communities doing good work in isolation, partly because the mechanisms and cultural scene that might support and enable this in other environments aren't currently part of the fabric of the city, and partly due to the segmented nature of the town planning. Investing in people to enable them to keep evolving and to develop their confidence and skills is crucial to sustainability. It is also important that a vibrant singing community is reflective of its members, embracing a rich diversity of styles, approaches and cultures.
Peterborough is in a unique position to affect change. There is an opportunity to build something lasting, relevant and inspiring. There is also a lot of work to be done. This strategy is an attempt to look at the bigger picture and to help link disparate strands, kick-start conversations and collaborations, and energise relationships and connections, linking with existing initiatives where possible.
This strategy was commissioned by Vivacity, in association with the Peterborough Music
Partnership. Its research and recommendations will be used to inform the Peterborough Singing Delivery Plan.
SINGING STRATEGY RECOMMENDATIONS The strategy has 4 core recommendations:
1. Continuing Professional Development
2. Connectivity / Forum for Exchange and Collaboration
3. Build the Delivery plan around existing programmed events 4. Routes for Artist Development
Themes and Priorities
1. Representation and diversity - Peterborough's diverse communities need to be better represented in the broadest sense. Peterborough is culturally diverse, but the musical offer could definitely reflect this more. Stylistic diversity and choices will enhance the cultural offer and enrich the musical landscape. Exchange and collaboration means we can all learn from the techniques, approaches and repertoire from a broad range of sources. It would be fantastic to have a delivery plan that reflected diversity in its widest sense; cultural, gender, ability /
disability, social, economic, stylistic etc.
2. Skills Development - Increased technical understanding and development of specific specialist areas e.g. how to work effectively with e.g. SEN children, specific work with boys. teenagers with changing voices, those who have English as a second language etc.
3. People as creators and producers of cultural activity and not only receivers of it. Developing projects and performances where the creation and presentation of new work is embedded and young people are encouraged to write lyrics and songs, and contribute creative ideas e.g. the Fulbridge model of teaching dance, where children contribute their own movements to a piece, interpreting the theme in an individual way that contributes to the whole ensemble.
4. SEN Support - Specific engagement and support for SEN children and teachers and planned action for inclusion in the flagship projects
5. Activity that directly engages boys and young men - This is an issue nationally.
There is research to suggest that choral singing may not be the best way to engage teenage boys who prefer more individualistic activity, but targeted activity is essential to the Delivery Plan. 6. Creative learning - where young people are involved in investigation, exploration and
research e.g. sourcing songs from the local community, exploring local history, exploring different cultures, researching specific songs and styles.
7. Communication - Effective systems for promotion of opportunities and performances as well as for meetings, deadlines, funding opportunities etc.
8. Collaboration - Creating opportunities or teachers, music leaders and artists to work together. Encouraging schools to buddy. Skills Exchanges. Cross-arts projects. Visiting artists. Voyager school‟s exchange with the partner school in the US, and Arthur Mellows Village College‟s musical connection with an African School (song exchange).
CORE RECOMMENDATION 1
-CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD)
A well planned, tangible CPD programme for teachers and artists is crucial. There was a consistent message from teachers and organisations that training and skills development is essential to support singing in Peterborough.
My recommendation is to create a core modular programme of 12 sessions over 2 years (one every half term). This would be open to teachers, teaching assistants, artists and musicians, and community members wanting to develop their singing leadership
It is important that the schools with little or no engagement are targeted for inclusion, as well as the offer being open to all interested parties.
Core CPD plan
Core CPD has 12 modules, one every half term for two years.
A core team of teachers and artists will elect to do all 12 modules. This should help to support the schools with low or little provision as well as the enthusiastic teachers who are already running singing activities in their school, but with little support, training and input. The training would be open to young leaders (18-25) and to artists, performers and musicians wanting to develop their teaching practice.
This programme of CPD will also be open to teachers and singing leaders who already have experience
The CPD plan will have a fixed and flexible offer. A suggested, but not fixed,15 places could be reserved for the core team of trainee singing specialists, electing to take all 12 modules. An additional nominal15 additional places could be open for other singing leaders to attend training as and when needed, or to top up existing skills, explore new areas or specialisms etc. It is recommended that where CPD session leaders are able to take more attendees, capacity should be as high as possible without sacrificing quality.
Bring in expertise where necessary and include expertise from within where possible. It is essential that we don‟t reinvent the wheel. The expertise and experts already in the city should be utilised wherever possible and visiting specialists can add value and additional perspectives and skills.
Requested and suggested core CPD modules:
Using your singing voice - head, chest, resonance, breath control, articulators
Training a choir – blend, style, focus, phrasing, vowels / consonants / diphthongs
Children‟s voices
Creative vocal parts – simple counter melodies, arranging
Teaching melody & harmony
Boys voices - the break & adolescence
Growing and developing a choir – raising your game plus peer leadership
Repertoire - including non-Western music
Singing, literacy and playground singing Warm ups and games
Teachers requested afternoon sessions combined with some twilight sessions.
Add value with visiting artists, connecting with other organisations, exchanges and CPD within projects.
Peer Mentoring
Within projects and activities it is important that peer mentoring is recognised, facilitated, supported and, where possible, built in. Peer mentoring is already happening in Peterborough Youth Choir, Peterborough Young Singers (in both the younger and older participants work together.)
The Beat Orchestra‟s Saturday morning sessions include young leaders. Arthur Mellows Village College‟s older pupils support younger pupils with band development. Voyager School‟s Talent Show has older pupils involved to support younger pupils with performance development and they are recognised as mentors on the publicity. Fulbridge School has a team of young cultural agents, which is an interesting model to explore for singing. Broadly, peer mentoring can also include e.g. KS2 classes singing with KS1 classes and cluster projects where primary schools work with secondary schools etc. For some of the larger scale singing projects, opportunities cluster working, buddying and interaction between “communities of interest”, a phrase that came from Diane Goldsmith from URock defining common ground beyond geography that can inform creative exchange.
Consider Arts Award for the under 25s.
Have young mentors come along to CPD sessions
Sing Up defines two types of peer mentoring, which are useful:
“Little L” leadership - such as demonstrating, assisting other children with words or parts, being a section leader in a choir etc.
“Big L” Leadership - such as leading an exercise or song, taking responsibility for session planning, leading an ensemble etc.
CORE RECOMMENDATION 2 -
CONNECTIVITY / FORUM FOR EXCHANGE
Web based Forum and Resource - The Peterborough Music Partnership or other suitable host should establish a website-based forum / members section where singing leaders / interested parties can share repertoire, tips, ask for help, recommend, promote events and communicate. Part of the budget should be allocated to this. It needs to be easy to use, have a search engine and resource area.
Termly Music Meetings - The SEN schools consulted identified a need for a termly meeting. I recommend that there is also an allocated budget to spend on an annual project - to be shaped and decided by the SEN schools group. At the Teacher Consultation session, those present a termly meeting for all schools communication and exchange, with specific breakout group time (for specific areas of interest). Most teachers felt that meeting face to face would encourage
collaboration, relationships and a wider sense of cohesion and community.
Existing mechanisms - Young people can take advantage of NuMu - the international educational resource for young people to connect, publish and share their original music online
www.numu.org.uk. It could be a good idea to centralise social media e.g. It may be worth establishing a Facebook page and Twitter account for Music in Peterborough, which is aimed more at young people where the website forum is aimed mainly at those working with young people. Xidus at Beat This has links at BBC Introducing for gifted and talented young people creating original music.
Communication Routes
Peterborough Music Partnership (PMP) is the Music Education Hub for Peterborough dedicated to delivering a first-class musical environment where all young people can thrive and develop to their full potential. It has essential role in connecting all singing and music activity, in and out of school. http://www.peterboroughmusic.org.uk. The primary route for all communications.
Peterborough Learning Partnership (PLP) is committed to developing communities that create successful learning and leadership, confident individuals and responsible citizens. It offers schools a wide and exciting range of CPD opportunities, events for children and high-profile conferences throughout the year. It has an essential role in communication and is viable and respected. The PLP communicates regularly and effectively with schools‟ management teams. Once in the school‟s system information does not necessarily reach the relevant person, which is addressed by the connectivity recommendations www.peterboroughlearning.org.uk
Vivacity - Vivacity is an independent, not-for-profit organisation with charitable status. We manage many of Peterborough‟s most popular culture and leisure facilities on behalf of Peterborough City Council. It provides opportunities for people to take part in cultural and leisure activities. Art, heritage, learning and sport form the mainstay of its services and the organisation can link singing and music into the wider cultural life and wellbeing of Peterborough residents. www.vivacity- peterborough.com
Peterborough Community Group Forum provides a support structure for the numerous
community groups and associations to build a better communication network and create a louder voice between them and other voluntary and statutory groups. consisting of 15 community organisations. www.peterborough.gov.uk/community_information/community_cohesion/ community_group_forum.aspx
Norfolk & Norwich Festival Bridge is part of a national network of 10 Bridge organisations, funded by Arts Council England, with the aim of providing a direct link or 'bridge' between those working with children, young people, schools and communities with arts and cultural organisations across Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. www.nnfestival.org.uk
Urock is an innovative and experimental youth theatre company whose work is centred around creative practise in spaces of freedom, with a focus on physicality, improvisation and creativity. Their work recently included a day to explore how artists and schools can effectively work together for creative learning. www.urock.org.uk
Young Lives provides a membership scheme for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations working with children, young people and their families www.young-lives.org.uk
Peterborough Music Making‟s website promotes live music making in the Peterborough area, to encourage attendance at musical events and participation in live music, by providing information for community groups and events and developing opportunities for member organisations.
CORE RECOMMENDATION 3 - BUILD ON PLANNED EVENTS
Currently the timetabled and planned events are the Lantern parade (September 2013), the Christmas Carol event (November 2013) and WW1 Commemoration (from August 2014).
Lantern Parade is being organised by Metal and Vivacity. It will be composed by Jonathan Baker and will involve Peterborough residents including the new Community Choir, the Polish Choir and the Roma boys singing group at Voyager School, amongst others. It will be performed in
September 2013.
Peterborough Lights Switch on event (16th November 2013) provides an early milestone for Peterborough‟s Singing Delivery Plan.
I recommend that any commissioning process needs to include sections to support young people with SEN‟s involvement e.g. if there is a round section, or some repeated phrases where timing can be freer, young people can use switches (small recording devices that playback a specific phrase and melody or spoken line). Makaton and signing could be included. Teachers in SEN schools have requested a long lead in time as it takes their pupils longer to learn repertoire. Any piece should cater for different levels and groups. Some groups would be happy with e.g. singing in unison, a relatively straightforward part, where others would prefer the challenge of harmonies and counter melodies and rhythms etc.
It would be great if a textured piece was created that could embrace a number of styles while still creating a cohesive piece. The city has numerous languages, classical choirs, pop choirs, beat boxers, MCs etc. and it could be a great opportunity to showcase this.
The aim is to include every school in this project and it is important to include Peterborough Young Singers and Peterborough Youth Choir, both of which have created Big Sing style events. It would be great if open rehearsals could be included at both choirs‟ regular sessions in the build up to the performance and also at schools with big performance spaces. It would also be great to include the Vocalise ensemble and artists from Beat This and the Beat Orchestra sessions.
It will be quite a task to organise clusters and relationships so everyone is involved, but it would be fantastic to do so. If there is limited capacity at the 16th November event, it would be great if smaller events can also be held in satellites.
A minimum of 6 weeks lead in time, notice of performance date so teachers can organise cover, so those working with SEN young people and EAL have time to learn the parts.
Plan any composition so different schools can take different sectionsand where possible so that they can rehearse in clusters.
Big Sing Events
Teachers requested Big Sing events, where children and young people can come together and sing on a larger scale, and where they can interact with other schools, artists and art forms. Young people also stated that they enjoyed mass participation events with the Olympic Torch being a particular favourite.
I recommend that the Delivery Organisation and Music Hub develop a Big Sing for Spring term. If there are schools who were not able to engage in the Lights Switch on event, this gives a second opportunity and will help with engaging and relationship building. Again it is important to build in support for schools with little or no activity e.g. a leader, a buddy school, open rehearsals in the school etc.
Primary schools suggested that the spring term would be the best time for this, not too close to Easter. This may well not be the best time for secondary schools due to exam preparation, but there could be other Big Sing involvement for them or a creative way around it, by making it manageable and adding value to pupils and teachers.
It is important to include Peterborough Young Singers and Peterborough Youth Choir. PYS ran a Big Sing event earlier in 2013, and worked with schools to deliver it. Peterborough Youth Choir has also used a Big Sing model for events.
A manageable way of working this could be e.g. Summer in the City model based on a project I was involved in for Sense of Sound and Sing Up in SE London. We created the theme and chose a selection of songs in response. A team of leaders worked with teachers and pupils one either one or two songs sometimes with an overlap so some schools buddied and collaborated. There was also a grand finale piece that everyone sang together with a section for the whole audience to join at the end.
Song feast model - This approach worked well at the Community Choir launch and food and music are always present at celebrations. We could create a festival feel with singing, dancing, storytelling, visual arts etc. and different foods and music reflecting Peterborough‟s
diverse population.
Guest artist model - A guest artist could be included in the performance and also be involved in the delivery, informing the content etc.
Transition and Secondary Big Sings
Transition from Primary to Secondary has an impact on singing nationally and specific strategies are needed to keep boys in particular engaged through the 11- 15 age where they voice is going through 6 stages of change. Professor Martin Ashley, the UK‟s leading academic in boys and singing notes that at around Year 11 boys can start to become interested in singing again, when it can have a different kind of status and the influence of role models and public figures. Also for many boys, but not all, the voice has started to settle and become more consistent again.
Specialist knowledge of working with cambiata voice (boys‟ changing voice during adolescence) is crucial, as is developing activity that appeals to boys. Girls also go through three stages of vocal change and although less dramatic, adolescent girls may have a vocal chink causing their sound to be breathy. This usually changes as they grow, but care is needed working with these voices too. Work to support boys and singing is built into the Core CPD, but should be thought about as widely as possible.
While there are boys in Peterborough Young Singers, Peterborough Youth Choir and the Beat Orchestra, girls make up the vast majority of singers. In the Beat orchestra the boys MCed and beat boxed while girls sang. There is an excellent resource of skilled beat boxers and MCs at Beat This, as well as song writers and specialists in Music Production and Technology. Combining other elements such as street dance, music production, making videos etc. can add value to young people and will help to support artist development.
Vocalise is a small vocal ensemble that has a good mix of young men and women and of vocal styles.
Voyager School has a strong group of Roma boys for whom singing is part of their culture and who buck the trend. BeatThis works with this group and it is likely that they will be included in the Lantern Parade event. Conversely at Thomas Deacon School, it has been difficult to engage many of the boys for whom singing is not part of the culture, particularly for some Muslim boys. This seems to be less of an issue at primary school, but one that becomes more pronounced at secondary age.
Peterborough Youth Choir is planning to establish a boys choir, which will focus on the Cambiata voice. This will provide a great addition to the choral landscape in Peterborough. There is
evidence to show that choral singing definitely appeals to some boys and young men, but others are seeking something more individualistic and there is also a need to reflect a broader range of musical interests such as contemporary styles, urban music, and world music styles.
Arthur Mellows Village College and the Voyager Academy both have a band culture in school, in which boys are well represented. The Battle of the Bands model could also be rolled out in a similar way to the Choir of the Year competition, (see below) with the top 2 bands from each schools competing in a city-wide performance and competition.
Arthur Mellows Village College holds an annual Choir of the Year competition for Year 7. Each class learns and rehearses a song after exams at the end of the summer term. This could be extended throughout Peterborough, with the top 1 or 2 choirs from each school competing for a Peterborough-wide Choir of the year competition. the winning choir or choirs could be
showcased at some of the other Big Sing events and maybe a choir competition could be part of Peterborough‟s annual calendar and include young, mixed and adult community choirs.
It would be good to create opportunities where older and younger people work together from a variety of schools and in combined primary and secondary ensembles as with Peterborough Youth Choir and Peterborough Young Singers residentials and combined performances etc. Both residentials and memorable performances were cited by young people as being musical highlights. Voyager school has an ambitious and exciting plan to establish a Saturday school, with cross arts plans -and “one-stop shop” for parents to take children to. This will include singing, dancing, drama, and there are also music production and filming facilities, as well as a good sized
performance space. Bearing in mind that currently Peterborough Young Singers and the the Beat Orchestra also meet then, all organisations are currently in conversation about future plans. Thomas Deacon Academy has a show choir and a pop choir which are well attended and adds a further range of styles to the secondary choral landscape.
Kings has an great reputation for singing, with a classical emphasis and traditional links to the Cathedral Choristers. The school was contacted, but not involved in the consultation process.
Commemoration of WW1 from August 2014
As a development from Lantern Project in Sept 2013 - a large scale community music and art project with singing and new music at the heart, but this time the new music would be created, researched and discovered from within Peterborough.
elements such as a song writing competition for e.g. primary, secondary, community. This could be an opportunity for schools to explore a very creative curriculum approach as potentially as e.g. history, literacy, English, geography, music, dance, drama, visual arts, music technology, film making etc. could all be involved
Creating “New Folk” - in the same way the Olympic opening ceremony updated us as a nation, let‟s create something vibrant that represents Peterborough‟s rich heritage and current diversity include the wealth of styles and interests from Britten to Zimbabwe to Portuguese to Grime. Community research - let children discover and uncover new songs by engaging where they live, building on the RSA (Royal Society of Arts) approach or the Orkney Song Project model. Also look at partnering people / organisations who may not usually work together and encourage intergenerational working.
Song writing would begin in Summer term 2014
It would be good to engage different sections of schools and community from history and heritage to different languages etc. Take into account the “40 years on” archive project. Run CPD sessions supporting the development of group song writing concurrently as part of the core CPD plan.
Engage artists from within Peterborough and support with visiting artists, mentoring and artist development.
CORE RECOMMENDATION 4 - ARTIST DEVELOPMENT
Artist development - Develop structures and outlets for mentoring, peer mentoring, gifted and talented, collaboration and performance opportunities. A recurring theme throughout the consultation process was that to have success in music you had to leave Peterborough, that Peterborough has a low cultural expectation and that there are very few outlets for gifted and talented young people to develop professional skills. Similarly artists felt that it was important for them to balance their creative work with their education work, yet felt that the balance was important to maintain
An open mic night / dry bar for young people (e.g. The Picket in Liverpool).Vivacity is planning to launch one later in 2013. There are a number in operation and it seems that they could all be better supported and promoted. The Lava Lamp is for people with learning difficulties. There will be Slam night at the Key Theatre created by pupils from Honeyhill PRU and supported by The Garage. There‟s an open mic at Key Theatre and at The brewery Tap. Make sure all parties are informed of other nights and help create a scene. Battle of the Bands events described in core recommendation 3 will also support this.
Masterclasses - When visiting artists come to Peterborough to perform, it makes sense to have more of their input as workshops, Q and As, role models, Music industry surgeries etc. The Garage will be bringing Akala to Peterborough as part of the Slam project with Honeyhill PRU. It would be fantastic for other young people to meet him and for him to be able to reach and inspire others beyond the immediate project
Connect to the wider world - Twin with likeminded organisations across the country and internationally. A recurring theme was that Peterborough is isolated from other areas. This is in part being combatted by the introduction if the 10 Bridge organisations, established and funded by the Arts Council, and also by the presence of Metal and 20 Stories High in Peterborough. The Key Theatre has some world class artists visiting and Vivacity is tapping into this resource. it would be fantastic if Peterborough could be in a position to export talent as well as import it, via creative exchanges and progression routes.
PETERBOROUGH SINGING DELIVERY PLAN
1. To involve all schools in regular singing activity by the end of 2014
2. To respond to the strategy’s models for sustainable working, which extend the impact of the activity beyond the funding period
3. To respond to and develop the strategy’s model of working with heads of music, teachers and teaching assistants which embed singing in the cultural life of the school
4. To deliver community singing initiatives (including new choirs) which are supported by and feed into work in schools
Notes to the Delivery Plan
1. To involve all schools in regular singing activity by the end of 2014
More work is needed to support mapping and inclusion. It is highly likely that the schools who have participated in informing the strategy are those who are already connected and active. Their contribution has been crucial and responding to their experiences and future aspirations has informed the strategy. However, outreach and relationship building beyond this initial consultation is needed, which should be built into the delivery plan. I have contacted 34 out of 58 primary schools. Currently 29 out of 58 schools are registered for Sing Up, with a further 12 schools that have choirs and regular singing. (See Appendix 1), making 41 out of 58 known to be engaged in regular activity. Before Sing Up changed to its current subscription model, 50 out of 58 schools were registered so the true figure may be closer to this. It is important that the approximately 8-10 schools with minimal participation and resources are engaged and supported. Approaches could include providing singing leadership, mentoring and “buddying” within the flagship
projects (Lights Switch on event, the Big Sing and WW1 Commemoration), inclusion in the CPD commitment, having a singing “buddy” at a school with an active singing programme, who can offer mentoring, resources and potential collaboration. It is important that the schools who are currently not engaged are engaged early on in the 2 year delivery plan to enable leaders to have time to learn and grow in confidence and experience.
2. To respond to the strategy’s models for sustainable working, which extend the impact of the activity beyond the funding period
Within the Singing Strategy‟s recommendations is a clear plan for CPD. Developing a confident and skilled workforce is key to sustainability. The CPD should be open to artists, teachers, musicians, community leaders. Giving young people a creative outlet e.g. through peer mentoring, open mic nights, song writing and composition opportunities, battle of the bands, competitions, choir of the year competitions, improvisation and arranging skills etc. is crucial to developing creativity and talent and nurturing young artists. CPD is a core element of the development plan (See
Recommendations on page), as are establishing a web-based forum and resource for singing leaders and artists, and termly meetings for schools and partners to focus on music and singing (with breakout sessions for special interest groups e.g. SEN schools). Arthur Mellows runs a year 7 “Choir of the Year” competition at the end of each summer term, with all 7 years classes learning and performing a group song, which could be rolled out in other secondary schools,
with a centralised Choir of the Year competition for the winning 1 or 2 choirs from each school. This could reasonably become part of the annual school calendar. Similar programmes could be rolled out for primary schools, in clusters or throughout Peterborough. Similarly e.g. Voyager has a
Battle of the Bands internally (with mentoring by older pupils for younger pupils), which could be rolled out to include other schools, in a similar way to the Choir of the Year model.
Creativity will also support sustainability. If you teach someone a song, they learn a song and numerous transferable and technical skills. If you teach someone how to write a song, improvise or arrange you build their creative independence further still. A lot of choral work in particular focuses on singers “receiving” musical information. This is a completely valid and important part of ensemble singing and there is a lot to be learned from different repertoire, approaches, musical disciplines etc. However, there is also a case for developing opportunities for song writing, composition, vocal individual and ensemble improvisation, ensemble and vocal arranging and creative direction coming from the young people themselves, as well as the singing leaders. The Beat Orchestra the Black Box sessions on a Saturday morning provides an interesting collaborative model that helps to develop ensemble composition and creativity. (Partners include Beat This, Britten‟s Sinfonia, the Guildhall, Vivacity and the Key Theatre). Establishing collaborations, supported performance opportunities and “communities of interest” will all help support sustainability and should include school and community partnerships.
3. To respond to and develop the strategy’s model of working with heads of music, teachers and teaching assistants* which embed singing in the cultural life of the school
I added Teaching Assistants to point 3 as there are a number in Peterborough leading and supporting singing very well in schools. In addition it is important that singing is supported at management level. Often singing thrives in schools it is where the management recognises its value of singing and actively supports it. Sometimes singing happens widely within a school where there is an inspirational, committed teacher who manages to create a sea-change and engage widely with pupils. However, if the teacher leaves, then sometimes the singing does too, meaning a singing school can quickly become a non-singing school due to personnel changes.This impacts on sustainability, Those involved in the core CPD of the Delivery Plan need to understand how to engage their colleagues in leading singing. It is important that singing leadership doesn‟t fall solely to the music specialist. Due to confidence, lack of experience or other reasons often where there is a music specialist other teachers leave singing to them, but for singing to thrive it needs to be
happening in individual classrooms, in key stage, year group assemblies and where possible with the whole school.
In secondary schools the curriculum and timetable is less flexible for obvious reasons, yet some schools elect to do creative weeks or break out weeks, working off timetable, often after the exam period at the end of the summer term. There are also specific events in the calendar such a Black History Month, Eid, Chinese New Year, Christmas, Diwali, that can be celebrated with music and singing.
Singing needs to make a clearer case for how it can support and enhance the curriculum. Where singing can support other subjects or be embedded within other subject areas, it There are some interesting models and approaches e.g. developing a curriculum that embeds singing in teaching languages etc. at Nene Valley, and the creative approach to visual arts at Fulbridge school, but we also need to trust teachers and headteachers to develop approaches are right for their school and pupils. This is where cross-arts and collaborative projects come into their own e.g. if there is a study focus on a e.g. Nigeria or the Tudors, songs, music, song writing etc. can all be used to support geography and history schemes of work.
Teachers will be connected to each other via the establishing of the web-based forum and resource sharing facility. In addition termly meetings with be organised by the Hub.
4. To deliver community singing initiatives (including new choirs) which are supported by and feed into work in schools
There is already a relationship between some of the community choirs and music initiatives with schools which can be built upon. In addition the launch of the new Community Choir happened on 22nd June 2013. Peterborough Youth Choir is planning to launch a new boys choir, along their existing roster of two adult choirs (male and female) and mixed youth choir. Try to incorporate „Cold Spots‟. Liaise with Community Cohesion Partnership – Jawaid Kahn.
There needs to be specific work to engage boys and there are recommendations in the Transition and Secondary Big Sings on page 10.
There are already a number of choirs and ensembles in Peterborough:
Vocalise (Young vocal ensemble that grew from a collaboration between Cross Keys Housing, Beat This and a teacher from Voyager
Academy) Peterborough Young Singers
Peterborough Youth Choir(s) / Male Voice Choir / Female Choir Polish Choir - included in Lantern Parade
Rocket Park Studios - Musical Theatre with Jenny Hall Gildenburgh Choir
See Peterborough Music Making for other group including Peterborough Operatic and Dramatic Society
Peterborough Cathedral / Choristers
Extra-curricular activity - Vocal Encounters at Peterborough Music School, Stage Coach (Singing, Drama and Dance), Early years / Toddlers, Wild Cats, KT Glee (Key Theatre) Peterborough Gang Show (Scouts and Guides)
Orchestras Live
Britten Sinfonia and the Guildhall are both involved in the Beat Orchestra alongside Beat This
SUMMARY
A community’s best resource is its people
Use skills from within and add skills from without, ensuring that capacity is built when new skills are delivered
Increase diversity of styles, cultures and approaches. Create fusion and collaborative possibilities
Ensure parties are consulted early in the process, plan ahead and promote widely through communication channels
Ensure that there is always a strategy in place to engage boys (activities which engage, bands, beat boxing, sing before sport project), SEN people and those with little access to singing and music making
Ensure quality and technique are embedded within projects Let’s build something that Peterborough can be proud of
NOTES TO CONSULTATION PROCESS
I have been very impressed by the enthusiasm, openness and the quality of musical activity.The following individuals and groups were contacted during the consultation process, with a list of contributors
Spoke to young people, primarily those who are engaged in singing (1) (from Beat This, Peterborough Young Singers & Peterborough Youth Choir)
100% of SEN schools contacted including PRUs 34 out of 58 primary schools contacted (2) 100% of secondary schools contacted Peterborough College
Peterborough Learning Partnership Peterborough Music Partnership
Other local choirs and music organisations including Beat This, Peterborough Young Singers & Peterborough Youth Choir
Strategic organisations including Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Vivacity, Metal (3), Royal Society of Arts, Arts Council, Sing Up
Singers, musicians, composers, freelancers and educationalists
Community leaders including representatives from the council and representatives from specific ethnic and cultural communities (4)
1 - It would be good for the Delivery Organisation to include consultation with include young people who don‟t sing to find out what activities might appeal to them.
2 - There are still some gaps on which schools have little or low provision. John Green from the PMP may be able to help identify them
3 - Metal were contacted, but not interviewed
4 - The community sector is under-represented due to a number of people not responding and the limited time for the consultation process. Bernadetta Ormondi, from the Community Forum has kindly invited the Delivery Organisation to attend a future meeting. Meetings happen on the first Tuesday of every month and resume in September 2013