As a fan of Sing Up for several years now, I was excited to see this book arrive through my door. By the chief executive of Sing Up, Michelle James, this really is an excellent one-stop shop to help any teacher – music specialist or not – to make their school a singing school, either using Sing Up's own programme of awards (Silver, Gold and Platinum) or by using the book as inspiration for their own plan. The book is suitable for teachers working with children aged four to 11 years old and beyond. James brings a wealth of knowledge, having worked in music education for 25 years and being part of Sing Up since its beginnings in 2007.
A4 in size, the book has an attractive cover and comprises 168 pages with a clean, easy-to-use design throughout. The book is not too text-dense and uses lots of bullet points, boxed-out sections and checklists. There are a few illustrated pages, which are text-sparse so that the reader can focus on the concept being presented. There are also pages for the reader to fill in, such as space to record a teacher's own ideas, and checklists to fill in for reflective practice.
The book includes 11 chapters plus endnotes, including:
- Why become a singing school?
- The singing school journey
- Vocal health
- Singing across the school day, week, year and beyond
- Inclusive singing for special educational needs and disabilities
- Teaching music through singing
- Starting and developing choirs
- Making progress and improving singing
- Your singing school journey: Silver and Gold
- What next? Reviewing the plan and keeping it on track: Platinum
Highlights
The book provides much evidence of the benefits of singing. James communicates with great passion about the value of singing in our schools, and an empowering tone is presented throughout. This is backed up with data covering the physical, psychological, social, musical and educational benefits that singing can bestow.
It was good to see a chapter on vocal health to help teachers take care of their own voices and those of their pupils. Warm-up suggestions are included along with general technical advice. Voice change is also covered, with some essential guidance on vocal range.
The chapters on vocal leadership, singing across the school day and inclusive singing for special educational needs outline how teachers can exercise leadership, including ways to do this. Choir conducting, singing assemblies, singing practice, singing in classrooms, playground singing games and collective worship are all covered.
Singing throughout the whole day is also outlined, including for classroom management (tidy-up songs and registers) and during playtime, as well as how to develop a singing timetable and singing at different occasions: harvest, Hanukkah, Diwali and Christmas. The special educational needs chapter provides excellent strategies for working with children who have a variety of requirements, from sensory impairment to language difficulties, and from mental health issues to physical impairment.
The chapters on teaching music through singing, starting and developing a choir, and making progress and improving singing are packed with musical content, also linking with the Sing Up Song Bank. These chapters help teachers develop their own music curriculum with singing at the heart. Outlining briefly some leading musical methodologies such as Kodály and Dalcroze, the choir chapter provides a useful practical blueprint for getting a choir started and, more importantly, keeping it going.
There's lots of strategic thinking in this book that will support a teacher to make things happen. To get the most from the title, it would be helpful to subscribe to Sing Up in order to access the Song Bank and other resources (a freelancer subscription is available at £60 plus VAT).
Congratulations Michelle James – this book is a job well done that I'm sure will inspire many teachers to enable their school to become a singing school.
Sing Up's Singing School Programme
- Available at three levels: Silver, Gold and Platinum
- The school must meet criteria statements for pupils, staff, senior leadership team and governors, and for the whole school community
- The book outlines a specific plan on how teachers can achieve these criteria in Chapters 10 and 11
