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GROUND-BREAKING NEW RESOURCE PLACES THE POWER OF SINGING AND MUSIC AT THE HEART OF THE PRIMARY SCHOOL DAY AS IT REACHES BETA-TESTING
A new innovative resource aiming to equip schools to use singing across the curriculum has reached a beta -testing phase ahead of its launch in 2022.
Sparkyard, produced by school’s music publisher Out of the Ark Music, is a subscription-based online platform where teachers can access a huge library of almost 1000 songs and resources for every area of the curriculum. The resource aims to encourage primary schools to use singing as part of their curriculum planning to improve wellbeing, build self-confidence, enhance academic performance, and promote social cohesion.
Sparkyard, is the realisation of a vision Out of the Ark Music has had since its inception, made possible now by undertaking significant research and having input from leading industry experts. The platform has been developed by teachers, for teachers, and is now in its final stages of product testing and the beta programme is being trialled by primary schools across the UK.
Antony Copus, Out of the Ark Music’s Head of Education and Project Lead on Sparkyard says, “Sparkyard is a visionary approach to primary education, putting the power of singing and music into the hands of every teacher in every school – enabling singing to be put at the heart of every part of the school day. Sparkyard has been curated with the same care and attention that goes into the writing and production of every single Out of the Ark song. Almost 1,000 songs, plus resources, curriculum links, music activities, values-based assemblies and more are seamlessly integrated into the Sparkyard catalogue enabling schools to unpack the rich content that is within each song and the transformational effects that result from singing them.”
In 2017 Out of the Ark Music and Professor Susan Hallam MBE collaborated on a major research project to identify the benefits of integrating singing and music in the classroom and across the curriculum. The study measured the impact that fully integrating singing into the school curriculum could have on a range of measures including wellbeing, social inclusion, pupil and teacher confidence, as well as academic attainment.
Professor Hallam noted, “The children with the lowest prior music attainment showed the greatest statistically significant levels of change in relation to listening skills and phonics. Qualitative responses indicated that singing together improved the mood of the children and that children worked better together.”
The project’s results encouraged Out of the Ark Music to develop a platform that would help bring the same benefits to schools, teachers and pupils right across the country by integrating singing into their own classrooms .
Antony added: “At Out of the Ark Music, we have always believed in the power of a song not just to make a difference to a child’s understanding of a topic but, importantly, to increase self-confidence, enhance their sense of wellbeing and to create a happy, healthy school environment. Singing can support learning in every subject and, after just one term on the Singing School project, teachers reported a more than 20% increase in confidence in their own ability to teach using music and songs with their classes. Sparkyard will allow any teacher, regardless of their previous musical experience, to bring these benefits to their pupils.”
The Sparkyard, beta programme is open now for schools to join. If you would like to sign up or find out more, please visit: www.sparkyard.com