Resource 2
Community cohesion and the prevention of violent extremism
A resource for teachers to use in the classroom
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Resource title Inspirations - The School is Alive Source: http://www.teachers.tv/video/3117 |
| Outline This video describes a Singing Communities project devised by the education team from Birmingham's Ex-Cathedra choir. It is designed to give practitioners some ideas about how they might set up similar projects of their own, which can be done without outside assistance. The overall project, Singing Communities, was backed by Youth Music and took place in 6 areas of the country. The programme looks at how whole-school singing can improve children's behaviour, raise esteem and help to develop a strong sense of community. There is extensive coverage of playground singing games and whole-school singing sessions, which clearly demonstrate the community spirit and sense of enjoyment which singing can engender. Children and teachers describe their experiences and indicate the benefits in terms of personal and social development, confidence and motivation, as well as specific areas such as language development. The three project leaders describe some of their processes and strategies. One important aspect of the project was that many of the songs were contributed by the children and their families, thereby creating a sense of ownership and ensuring that the selection of songs reflected the cultural backgrounds of the school population. And although singers coming in from outside school led this project, staff from within the school could lead similar projects. There are many additional resources (see below) which could help any classroom practitioner develop an appropriate repertoire of songs and games. Sing Up, the national campaign for singing, also runs courses which are aimed at developing teachers' confidence and expertise in leading singing with children. This resource could be used in conjunction with Music resource 4 'Sing Up song bank' where teachers require examples of songs for use in their own school project. |
| Links across other subjects within resource PSHE education - activities involving collaboration, developing leadership skills. Language - reference to how songs help children develop confidence with words. PE - co-ordination required for the physical actions which form part of many of the games. Possible extension into Geography (singing games from different cultures) and History (singing games from the past). |
Additional support
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