P6
Find your voice
Every child should have the chance to sing every day, argues Jenny Young. A programme developed with Drake Music is making this a reality for children with special needs.
Sing Up is a national programme that puts singing at the heart of young children’s lives. It is based on a belief that every child should have the chance to sing every day and is particularly appropriate for children with special educational needs.
All children have the potential to be involved in singing – some in the traditional sense, some sign, some use an electronic aid such as a Voca* and some don’t verbalise but do make sounds.
Sing Up has developed resources and training for staff working with children with SEN. Time and again we see how singing and music-making can improve confidence and social interaction. Creativity plays a powerful role in the lives of young people.
Singing is also a great tool to engage with children’s lives. It can provide a non-threatening route to discussing the problems children face and can help staff ‘tune in’ to their pupils. Music can transform young people’s lives, even those with the most profound disabilities, helping them engage with music, with peers and support staff.
* Voca: voice output communication aid
Golden voices
Head Teacher Wendy Baker, from the National Institute of Conductive Education (Nice), says: “Music provides the rhythm and structure for movements from an early age and gives opportunities for speech development and the learning of new concepts in a fun way.”
Nice helps those with movement and coordination difficulties to overcome these problems so they can be more independent. It was the first SEN school to achieve a Sing Up Gold Award. Wendy recalls: “We used the Sing Up website and found we could meet the expectations, as much of what we were being asked to do, we were doing already. That’s not to say gaining the award wasn’t a challenge – it’s been a very enjoyable experience.”
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