“The singing programme has been an absolutely wonderful enhancement to our music provision here in school. The sessions are high quality, expertly planned and seamlessly linked to national curriculum objectives, but most of all highly engaging and enjoyable for our pupils. Laura has cultivated really strong relationships with our children and it has been fantastic to see their singing skills and confidence develop so quickly over a relatively short space of time. It has also been super CPD for all of our staff involved!”
Robert Adams – Head Teacher at South Gosforth First School, Newcastle

Ian Roberts is Director of the Schools Singing Programme for Newcastle Anglican Cathedral and writes below about an exciting first six months.

“For years we’ve had the sincerest of aspirations to change the lives of children and young people across our city, and there have been isolated examples across the years of our having managed just that, but we lacked the structure, confidence or resource to do this on a major scale. In contrast with this, the effect of our joining the National Schools Singing Programme on our work over the past 6 months has been profoundly transformational. We now have the structure, confidence, and resource to make a real difference, and we are only at the beginning of the journey!

We have been lucky to appoint 2 excellent Choral Directors. Clare Crinson comes to us with a wealth of experience. She taught on the In Harmony project with Sage Gateshead, worked extensively as a classroom teacher, and led the Durham Cathedral Young Singers for a decade. Laura Oldfield, a graduate of Newcastle University, is a local teacher and professional singer who brings energy, precision and vocal expertise to the role. Both Choral Directors are busy with their allocated schools, and also make a major contribution to the growing number of after school choirs based at the Cathedral.

We began our Schools Singing Programme with 6 schools from after Easter, and since September we have been working with 12 schools. Children that flourish in our weekly classroom sessions are invited to be part of our Training Choir, which has more than 30 singers, and from that starting point we already have a growing number of Probationer Choristers. We have also reinvigorated our Year 2 ChoriStarters group, and developed a group for Year 1 and Reception children – Mini-ChoriStarters. All this means that, 6 months into the programme, we will be working with 720 children on a regular basis in the classroom, and approximately 100 children and young people are singing at the Cathedral on a regular basis.

We are starting to look ahead to the second year of the programme, and considering further expansion. We are also in discussions with a local parish in the West End of the city about beginning a new Childrens’ Choir in partnership with the Cathedral, with local feeder schools that are already part of the Schools Singing Programme, or might join up during the second year. So watch this space for the next exciting developments!”