Empowering All Voices

Voices Foundation is pleased to share the second in our series of #VFBriefing reports. ‘Empowering All Voices’ takes a deeper look at what it means to be 'musical' and how this relates to teacher confidence. This report highlights some of the key findings from our Singing Schools evaluation project that has been taking place in partnership with the Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) and David Ross Education Trust (DRET) since 2018.

Our programme evaluation, delivered by Sound Connections and Birmingham City University, explored the barriers that teachers and school staff can face when participating in and leading singing, and we considered how we can work with them to overcome these challenges. Our evaluation indicated that the Singing Schools programme had a strong positive impact on teachers’ confidence to deliver music activities. Yet, to fully empower all teachers to provide their pupils with high-quality music learning experiences, we must work together to change the perceptions in society of what it means to be ‘musical’.