Primary Teacher UK

Wide choice of school musicals on new website

Edgy Productions the largest supplier of end of year and leavers’ musicals for primary schools has launched a new website www.edgyproductions.co.uk making it easier than ever to choose the right school musical for an end of year production.

The new website gives teachers a chance to sample song clips, read full plot summaries and study character lists from around 30 musical productions to help them choose the perfect musical to suit their school. Schools can order the musicals on-line and they will be despatched within 48 hours, followed by an invoice to the school.

Edgy Productions produces modern, witty musicals for primary schools with the subject matter firmly based in school and about the humorous events that happen there. The names of the principal characters - head teachers, teachers, TAs, pupils and parents can all be changed to fit in with individual schools making it possible for teachers to tailor make the production especially for their own school.

Edgy Productions founder and songwriter Andrew Oxspring commented:

“We are very excited by our new website, as the user-friendly design will enable teachers to make a
well-informed choice about their school production, and allow them to order with ease and speed.”

For more information go to www.edgyproductions.com or call 0845 8333348

Only half of music lessons good enough

Half of school music lessons are not good enough, with many schools abandoning the subject when pupils start revising for exams, according to a review of music education by Ofsted.

A pledge to give every primary pupil the chance to learn an instrument has backfired in some schools, which have dropped individual tuition in favour of whole-class violin or recorder lessons to try to meet it. Nervous teachers struggle to identify pupils with real talent, Ofsted says.

The report says that where lessons are going wrong, teachers often "talked too much", leaving little time for children to make music. They are also failing to teach pupils to listen to music properly.

But in the best schools music is a crucial way of helping pupils build self-confidence and self-esteem, the inspectors say. The report is based on inspectors' visits to 84 primary and 95 secondary schools in England between 2005 and 2008.

Link: http://ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/News/Press-and-media/2009/February/Too-few-schools-are-hitting-the-high-notes-in-music

Oxjam

Oxjam - Oxfam’s annual music extravaganza - have produced 20 stand-alone lessons, offering opportunities for singing, performing, composing, improvising, listening, and appraising. You can also explore rhythm, timbre, texture, structure, and pitch by using music from many cultures and countries. The lessons have been created for ages KS1, KS2, KS3, and KS4.

On the Oxfam Education site there is also a fantastic range of resources including assemblies (with all relevant resources) and Global Dimension resources.

Link: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/education/

Find your talent

Ten areas around the country are to pilot the Government’s £25 million Find your Talent programme to give young people the chance to encounter a range of high-quality cultural experiences for five hours a week both in and outside of school. Children in the pilot areas will be able to discover and develop their talents in the cultural sphere.

In time, the Government wants all young people to have the right to experience five hours of arts and culture every week.

The ten lead organisations chosen as pilots are:

• Bolton Borough Council;
• The Creative Foundation (serving Shepway District and including Folkestone, Hythe and Romney Marsh);
• Customs House (North and South Tyneside);
• Hampshire County Council;
• Leeds Children’s Services;
• Leicestershire County Council;
• ‘Liverpool City Region’ Partnership (serving three Merseyside neighbourhoods);
• North Somerset;
• Telford and Wrekin Council; and
• Tower Hamlets.

Sound Junction

SoundJunction is the award-winning site for listening to, exploring, discovering and creating music. On the site you can:

Listen and explore: rock, classical, jazz, African, drum 'n' bass, pop, fusion and much more. Listen to different musical instruments and see professional musicians on video -- the violin to the udu, bassoon to drums.

Discover how music works by taking it apart and making it yourself and listen to 40 musicians talk on film about their experiences.

Create and compose your own music online with free software and discover how composers and remix artists make their music.

Learn about music's background and history and get free music teaching resources and materials for exams in music.

Link: http://www.soundjunction.org/

Come and Praise Words

I've just ordered in the BBC Come and Praise Complete music CDs and piano book. I'm desperate however to get a copy of the words to each song typed up so that I can photocopy it to acetate to use on the OHP in assemblies.

Does anyone have these words typed up or know where I can find them? If you can help please email me at rossa@primary-teacher-uk.co.uk.

Sing Up!

http://www.singup.org/ is the Music Manifesto's National Programme. The site has tons of information and resources for children, parents and teachers including free lesson plans and advice on how to get started with music in your classroom.

The Sing Up Magazine, which you can order for free on the website, is the first step to getting involved in the programme and accessing resources. It's a termly magazine which available to primary schools and singing leaders working regularly in primary schools in England.

Each issue of the magazine will include 10 songs (on a CD) fully supported by learning materials and full performance, echo and backing tracks. Each issue will also feature an update from Howard Goodall, singing news and examples of good practice from all around the country.

There is loads of other free information and resources if you register for full access.

Link: http://www.singup.org/

Instruments in school

Just weeks after a craze for ukeleles over recorders in primary schools was revealed, a government-backed study has found that guitars and drums are becoming the instruments of choice in the classroom.

Orchestral instrument lessons are in decline, according to researchers from the Institute of Education in London. Susan Hallam, who led the team, said it was likely the guitar would soon overtake the violin as the most widely taught instrument, with children being inspired by bands such as the White Stripes.

The figures were published as the schools secretary, Ed Balls, announced £332m funding over three years to help boost music for the under-11s. The aim was "to renew the country's musical traditions, creating a musical culture in schools for all to embrace, not just the few". Balls said: "Every child from all backgrounds should have the chance to perform, play an instrument or sing and I want every school to become a musical school." Officials said £40m of the total funding would be used to buy brand new musical instruments, from violins, flutes and clarinets to African drumming sets and bassoons.

Primary Music Teacher

Primary Music Teacher is a website set up by Mark Smith, a PGCE student specialising in KS2 music.  Now if you are anything like me these music websites are a life saver in class and this site is no different if you are looking at Samba.  Although the site is in its infant stages at the moment,  the Samba resources are excellent (including example music) and it other areas could be developed it could really become an essential website in the future.

Link: www.primarymusicteacher.com

Royalty free music for your performances

With the summer performances coming up lots of teachers will be looking for 'atmospheric music'.  This site, which has royalty free music, allows you to download and use the music as long as you give credit.  They ask for an optional $5 donation for those feeling flush.

What's good about this site is the ability to search on the 'feel' of the music.  Looking for something eerie?  Maybe something aggressive?

Link: http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/