‘Sing Out Your Story’: Merton Children Hit the High Notes at Mini Musicians Festival
Sing Out Your Story
Over 500 Merton children joined together across two days to celebrate the end of the Mini Musicians pilot programme during the ‘Sing Out Your Story’ Key Stage 1 festival in early July. Council Leader, Cllr Ross Garrod was in attendance alongside Cabinet Member for Jobs, Skills and Education, Cllr Sally Kenny and other representatives from the Merton Schools and Education teams. The project has been led by Merton Music Foundation (MMF), ‘what we have heard over the last two days is testament to how much musical progress children can make if they are just given the opportunity. The performances our young people gave were incredible, full of musicianship, glorious singing and endless joy’, commented the Foundation’s Chief Executive, David Rees.
Mini Musicians
Mini Musicians is a partnership between Merton Council, Merton Music Foundation, The University of Roehampton and Sing Up supported by Sounds of Intent Charity and Trinity College London, which has given access to music to hundreds of Merton children aged 5-7 through an innovative teaching approach.
The impact of the two-year programme is being studied by researchers, led by Prof. Adam Ockelford:
‘Early data shows us that the children have made a statistically significant amount of progress even in just the first term of delivery, which shows the teaching methodology is effective. We are particularly interested in what the findings show us in relation to how children learn music; when asked to sing their Mini Musicians songs without prompting, around 50% of the pupils were able to start within one semitone of the right note, showing an early form of Absolute Pitch. This is quite remarkable when we consider that only 1 in 10,000 adults have Absolute Pitch‘, explained Prof. Ockelford.
Merton’s Melodicas!
During the performances the children sang, tapped, played and even performed on their melodicas – a type of keyboard instrument taught to over 300 Year 2 children as part of the project in 10 Merton schools.
‘I am proud that our children performed so confidently – with real verve and enthusiasm.. I’m delighted that our children got to be part of the project‘ said Michael Bradley, headteacher at Merton Abbey Primary School.
‘The festival was a wonderful way to celebrate and showcase all that our pupils have achieved as part of Mini Musicians‘, remarked Helen Teasdale, music teacher at Perseid Special School, who added: ‘children were able to sing solo, play solos on their melodicas or keyboards, play together and keep in time together… we are so proud of them!‘.
Jane Buckett, Music Coordinator at Hillcross Primary summed it up quite simply: ‘Wow, wow, wow!!! That’s all I have to say – children were amazing and that is thanks to this wonderful project and amazing teaching, the whole event made me feel very proud and quite emotional!‘.
Councillor Ross Garrod, Leader of Merton Council, says:
‘It’s been fantastic to see the progress of the Mini Musicians since it began two years ago, and to see how much the children involved have learnt from this pioneering programme. Not only does Mini Musicians build the foundations of a lifelong hobby and interest, this Council funded programme supports our children in all areas of their learning, setting them up for a lifetime of success.’
Councillor Sally Kenny, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, says:
‘As well as learning the fundamental principles of music, children in Merton benefit from an education system where every school is rated good or outstanding by Ofsted. Mini Musicians provides children with a brilliant way to develop their creativity and express themselves.‘
To find out more about Mini Musicians and Merton Music Foundation, visit: www.mmf.org.uk/mini-musicians
Photo Gallery – Sing Out Your Story
