We’ve launched a new free resource for primary schools – The Primary Singing Toolkit
We are incredibly proud to present the Primary Singing Toolkit, a free resource for primary school teachers to develop the skills to run singing lessons in their classroom.
Voices Foundation and the ISM Trust, supported by the Schools Music Association, have created create the online resource as a source of inspiration and practical singing strategies.
We know it can be a nerve-wracking experience for a teacher to sing in front of their class. This is why the Primary Singing Toolkit has been specifically designed to help non-specialist teachers to build their confidence while finding their own singing voice.
Embedding singing into classroom lessons works best when teachers feel confident in their own abilities to lead such activities. It’s therefore important for teachers and schools to develop an effective and holistic approach to singing.
Access the Primary Singing Toolkit
What’s included?
The free resource leads teachers through seven full music lessons. This is via 14 videos, each with accompanying downloadable lesson plans, which cover:
Call and response
Dancing with the song
Teaching musical elements
Pitch and composition
Leading a choir
Healthy singing practices
Part singing and leading a round
Refining a song
The videos follow our own Musicianship and Choral Directors, Jenny Trattles and Charles MacDougall, in real school classrooms, supporting non-specialist teachers at Winterton Junior School and singing with the children in their classes. They work through one song in bitesize steps, which are easy for teachers to follow and imitate in their own schools.
The free resource also includes seven full lesson plans, ready for teachers to run, utilising the skills they have learnt through the videos.
Don’t just take our word for it…
The Primary Singing Toolkit has already received rave reviews from teachers.
Susan Hollingworth, a noted music educator and choral director says:
“With a little help from the two excellent professionals, they show how a motivated teacher can excel at teaching music to their class in the way they teach everything else. Trattles and MacDougall are highly engaging and supportive throughout, and the ISM Trust and Voices Foundation have created videos which are instructive and engaging.
I would urge all primary schools to download this new resource. Teachers in music hubs could use the videos to form the basis for their schemes of work and imitate the very clear progression routes demonstrated by the talented pair of tutors.
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. More of the same please!”
Manvinder Rattan, Voices Foundation CEO:
“These 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 children’s singing in this country.”
Jenny and Charles presented the Primary Singing Toolkit at a webinar jointly hosted by the ISM. To watch a recording here to see a practical demonstration of how the resource brings music to life, click here.