I have had the privilege of getting a sneak preview of Out of the Ark's new online platform Sparkyard over the past fortnight. After this, I will most definitely become a subscriber following its official launch in early 2022, and I heartily encourage teachers to consider taking a look as well.
There are a few music subscription services available to teachers of primary music. What stands out as being different about Sparkyard is its scope; not only does it provide you with access to Out of the Ark's enormous catalogue of songs, but also to comprehensive lesson plans, schemes of work and assemblies.
The Model Music Curriculum has advised for all primary children to have a minimum of one hour of music teaching per week, but this does not need to be in the form of one long session (as is stated, it can be broken into shorter sessions). You will, in all likelihood, agree that we can go much further; in order to fully embed a musical culture in our schools, singing at registration, lining up, during phonics, maths, science, at the end of the day marries beautifully with Sparkyard's tagline – ‘It all starts with a song'.
Out of the Ark's vision is clear: to make the resources available to every school to enable them to harness the power of singing. In 2017, in collaboration with professor Susan Hallam MBE, Out of the Ark worked with 24 primary schools (nearly 9,000 children) to assess the impact that fully integrating singing and music into the school curriculum could have on a range of measures, from wellbeing and social inclusion to academic attainment.
As well as CPD, Out of the Ark gave the schools unlimited access to their entire catalogue of songs. The results showed a 10 per cent increase in pupil confidence, self-esteem and getting on with others, a 10 per cent increase in phonics skills, listening skills, spatial awareness and reading fluency, and an 11.3 per cent increase in performance in maths. This was the starting point for the development of Sparkyard.
Looking at the schemes of work and lessons, these plans could appeal equally to a wide variety of people. They would be brilliant for an NQT who lies awake at night at the thought of teaching music, as well as a veteran music teacher who believes they've seen it all and sticks loyally to their reliable schemes of work built up over many years' service. I was really impressed by the lesson plans – skills-based lessons with different levels of entry depending on the children being taught, as well as the teacher's level of confidence in teaching them. A quick try of the ‘Take Five Styles’ lesson, under the Year 6 ‘We've Got Rhythm’ termly scheme, was a great success, with all children leaving confidently aware of different tempos and time signatures. Even though I have taught this part of the curriculum for many years, the resources were fresh and allowed enough flexibility for me to take them in my own direction.
A quick search for songs on any topic (the list is quite enormous) reveals a number of choices for varying age groups. These can then be saved in your ‘Favourites’. The song is immediately accessible with accompanying lyrics, familiar to those who use Words on Screen™. The same songs can then be shared immediately with parents. The popular classroom-based assemblies on topics, such as the Romans or the Greeks, (of which I am a huge fan) are all in there with their scripts. In addition, there is a large area being developed for collective worship – an excellent resource for faith schools. Nativities and musicals need to be purchased separately but then appear in the same place.
In summary, I'm making full use of my current Sparkyard preview, and it is fast becoming a staple of my daily teaching, much to the envy of my colleagues who are itching to incorporate the many songs into their classrooms as well. You will all know that now, more than ever, we cannot afford to not sing – Sparkyard gives us the exact resource we need to be singing our hearts out wherever we go.
To find out more about Sparkyard, visit www.outoftheark.co.uk/blog/sparkyard-is-coming
