Sing Up
Encyclopedia
Sing Up is a UK Government funded national singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 programme which aims to ensure that all primary school-aged children are able to access high-quality singing activities every day and that, over time, all primary schools should become 'singing schools'. The programme is committed to raising the profile of singing, making people aware of its health and learning benefits and its power to transform lives and communities.

History

In January 2007, the then Education Secretary Alan Johnson
Alan Johnson
Alan Arthur Johnson is a British Labour Party politician who served as Home Secretary from June 2009 to May 2010. Before that, he filled a wide variety of cabinet positions in both the Blair and Brown governments, including Health Secretary and Education Secretary. Until 20 January 2011 he was...

 announced that the British Government through the Department for Education
Department for Education
The Department for Education is a department of the UK government responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education....

 (then Department for Education and Skills) would invest £10 million towards a one-year national singing programme for primary schools responding to the recommendations of the Music Manifesto
Music Manifesto
The Music Manifesto is a government-supported campaign to improve young people's music education in England based on an agreed strategy and set of priorities...

. In 2008, the funding was extended to £40 million over four years, ending in March 2011.

Between January 2007 and March 2011 Sing Up was led by a Consortium of partners, made up of Youth Music with AMV-BBDO, Faber Music
Faber Music
Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications....

 and The Sage Gateshead. Children's charity Youth Music was the lead partner, with music publisher Faber Music
Faber Music
Faber Music is a British sheet music publisher best known for contemporary classical music. It also publishes music tutor books, and in 2005 acquired popular music publisher International Music Publications....

 overseeing the national singing resource, including the Song Bank library, while advertising agency AMV-BBDO leads a media and schools campaign highlighting the benefits of singing. The Sage Gateshead leads the Workforce Development Programme, which focused on building the confidence and expertise of primary school teachers and musicians so they could lead and support children's singing activity. From January 2007 to March 2011, Sing Up was championed by the composer and broadcaster, Howard Goodall
Howard Goodall
210px|thumb|Howard Goodall at St. John the Baptist Church in Devon, United Kingdom, May 2009Howard Lindsay Goodall CBE is a British composer of musicals, choral music and music for television...

 CBE, as the Government's National Singing Ambassador.

In March 2011, Government announced a further £4 million funding to Sing Up for the next financial year. The aim of this investment is to help the programme build a sustainable future beyond April 2012. In light of this, Sing Up is now equally led by all three Consortium partners –Faber Music, The Sage Gateshead and Youth Music. Due to restrictions in the programme’s funding, AMV-BBDO have now stepped away from their role within the Consortium.

Sing Up aims to put singing at the heart of primary-school aged children's lives. For schools it promotes singing as a cross-curricular tool in line with the National Curriculum. For teachers it provides training opportunities to lead inspirational singing activities with young people; for children, Sing Up brings opportunities to develop their skills and enjoyment of singing and for communities, it runs successful projects placing singing at the heart of communities.

Website and Resources

Sing Up's website and resources provide teachers and music leaders across England access to cross-curricular singing resources for use in the classroom. At the heart of the website lies, the Song Bank, an interactive library of over 350 children's songs with practice and performance tracks, lesson plans and appropriate curriculum-linked activities.

Sing Up also produces a free termly magazine which comes with a CD and features news and practical articles to help teachers use singing within the classroom as an educational tool.

Training and Continuing Professional Development
Continuing Professional Development
Continuing professional development or Continuing professional education is the means by which people maintain their knowledge and skills related to their professional lives.-CPD research:...

 (CPD)


During Sing Up’s first phase which ended in March 2011, consortium partner The Sage Gateshead, led the Workforce Development strand. Through this, Sing Up offered an extensive and varied programme of CPD and training available to anybody working with primary-aged children and in other specialised areas such as working with Looked After Children and Young People. The training aimed to build the confidence and expertise of teachers and musicians in leading and supporting children’s singing.

Due to changes in funding, Sing Up isevaluating and developing a new national network which will be providing training and local support to schools across England.

Accessible Learning (previously known as Beyond the Mainstream)

As part of Sing Up's commitment to reaching all primary-aged children in England, work is also being done to reach those children 'beyond the mainstream', children who are educated in settings outside of mainstream education (SEN, Short Stay School or Pupil Referral Unit
Pupil referral unit
In the UK, a Pupil Referral Unit is a centre for children who are not able to attend a mainstream or special school. Each local education authority has a duty to make arrangements for the provision of education in or out of school for all children of compulsory school age...

), or for children who attend primary mainstream schools but face difficulties accessing or attending (including looked after children, children with special needs
Special needs
In the USA, special needs is a term used in clinical diagnostic and functional development to describe individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. For instance, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the International...

and refugee children). This strand of work explores, develops and disseminates good practice, supporting and learning from the children and workforce in these settings.

Awards

Schools may also pledge to complete a Sing Up Award. The Awards aim to recognise, celebrate and promote schools who commit to singing and there are three different levels (Gold, Silver and Platinum). Silver and Gold are awarded following an online audit and evaluation process. Platinum is awarded by nomination.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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