Performances play a huge role in the life of a primary school. They provide times where we can open our doors to parents and the local community and showcase the talents of the young people in our care. As an opportunity for pupils to work together and create something they can be proud of, performances provide lasting memories of achievement they can take into adult life.
One of the most exciting and rewarding elements of live performance is creating something new that didn’t exist before and can only exist in that moment. A real challenge for schools is keeping performances fresh and inspiring whilst being worthwhile learning experiences and all of this stems from the teachers who are leading the work in schools. At Essex Music, we are always on the lookout for ways to help schools and teachers to do just that.
‘Create and Sing’ is part of the Royal Opera House’s learning offer, created for and by teachers. The programme, which explores opera through practical work, is based around classroom activities that are led by class teachers and supported with online lesson plans, films and resources. Just as opera combines disciplines and art forms to tell a story, these lessons are cross curricular and rich with practical application.
Partnering with ROH Create and Sing, Essex Music Education Hub wanted to bring these resources to life for teachers in Essex and provide them with the tools to confidently use the programme with their pupils. Over the academic year 2020-21 we have planned teacher CPD and pupil sharing sessions and will be looking at the impact this has in the schools who take part.
Part 2 of this case study will be about the performance at the BBC Proms 2020.
