Singing at school shouldn’t just be for Christmas, teachers say

Many children find themselves singing carols at school in the run-up to Christmas; at a nativity play or carol concert, often with parents watching with pride.

But new data shows that singing is much less common throughout the rest of the school year, especially after students finish elementary school.

Now, an association of music teachers says there should be a choir in every school to help pupils embrace music after years of decline in its popularity as a GCSE subject.

The government says it is investing in high-quality music teaching and that the “revamped curriculum” will encourage more people to study music.

In a recent survey, Teacher Tapp asked just under 10,000 teachers in England how often their entire school sang together at assemblies.

More than half (57%) of public secondary school teachers said their students never sing together in assemblies, while only 13% of private secondary school teachers and just 4% of primary school teachers said the same.

Teachers were asked individually whether there was a choir in their schools. Just over a third (36%) of teachers in public secondary schools reported that their school did not have a choir, compared to only 8% of private school secondary teachers.

Access to more than one school choir was much more common in private schools; While three-quarters (77%) of private secondary school teachers said their school had more than one choir, this rate was 27% for public secondary school teachers.

Jackie Bowen, headteacher at East Manchester Academy, says secondary school students “feel embarrassed or maybe it’s not nice to sing like they did in primary school”.

But he says singing and music are priorities at school.

“We know the intrinsic value of music, but also its impact on student development, mental health and academic achievement,” he says.

“So we’ve made a lot of attempts to break down the barriers to music.”

The school offers a music center at the school once a week, offering students the opportunity to spend time with expert teachers from the Royal Northern College of Music.

During lesson transitions, students hear classical music instead of the traditional bell tone.

The school also founded the first gospel choir.

Mercy, an 11th grader who is in the choir, says she always wanted to continue singing in middle school.

“They say you have to sing in primary school, but when you get to secondary school it’s a choice, so most people don’t do it,” she says.

“I think we all need to make our voices heard to the world. Whether you’re good at it or not, just sing.”

There has been a 25% drop in the number of students studying GCSE music in schools in England over the last fifteen years. despite the rise in the latest statistics.

This is partly down to the introduction of a progress measure for schools in 2010, called the English Baccalaureate, which evaluates schools based on how many pupils take English, maths, science, geography or history and a language, and how well they perform.

Government recently announced that it will change the school curriculum To make it easier for more schools in England to offer arts subjects such as music.

Some progress has been made in recruiting new music teachers this year, but levels still remain 35% behind the government’s target for trainee music teachers in the latest statistics.

James Manwaring, president of the Music Teachers’ Association, which represents music teachers in both state and private schools, says every school should have a choir.

“All you need is a room and you need someone to run it and you need the students,” says James, who is also music director of the Windsor Learning Partnership, a multi-academy trust of six public schools.

“It’s a shame to think some public schools aren’t taking advantage of this.”

He says changes to the school curriculum in England are “very exciting” in terms of supporting music in schools, but more funding and resources will be needed “as well as retaining the wonderful music teachers there”.

A Department for Education spokesman said the government was committed to ensuring arts, music and drama were “no longer in the hands of a privileged few”.

Ministers said they were “investing millions” to help schools invest in musical instruments and equipment and were “supporting high quality music education through our Music Centres”.

“Our revamped curriculum will give every young person the skills, knowledge and experiences they need to achieve and thrive, including encouraging more people to study music and other creative subjects.”