PRIMARY MUSIC TODAY

And so the clock ticks on, and another issue of Primary Music Today is ready to go to press. This is the third issue of our watch and we would welcome reader’s responses to the new design and the featured articles.

Reader’s may be interested to know (although I’m sure you have more important things to occupy your thinking) that both editor (Ian) and designer (Jason) have very young babies at home, and there is nothing better to occupy those wee small hours, when all hope of sleep is lost, than thoughts of how the next issue of PMT could be even bigger and better than the last.

Issue 39, then is indeed our biggest and best to date. Both Vanessa and I are delighted that we are able to capture a broad spectrum of issues regarding primary music education. In Primary Singing Days in Camden, Gitika Partington discusses developing a community of singers. By their very nature, a community suggests a group of people who share common values and principles, and here ‘community’ refers to children, staff, neighbouring schools and secondary schools. This is a delightful article that should inspire the development of singing in a variety of contexts.

Music teachers need no reminding that music has great potential where spoken language fails. We are all aware that music offers children a chance of success that is missing in other parts of the curriculum. Music motivates, moves, inspires and facilitates learning, and in Special Music, Cherry Barnes outlines the central part music has to play in Special Education: a very practical article that has ‘values’ rather than ‘content’ at its core.

In Hessle Penshurst Playground Sings, Mike Allen provides a detailed account of one school’s success in developing a ‘Singing Playground’. Lots of advice here, and the comments gathered from the staff and children are a testament to such initiatives. Readers who are interested in his project may should look out for an article by Ex-Cathedra’s Singing Playgrounds’ team in the next issue of PMT.

The Wider Opportunities discussion has continued for some time now, and rightly so. This is a contentious programme and questions about sustainability and progression must be asked. In What happens after Wider Opportunities?, Carolyn Baxendale of Bolton Music Service asks such questions and begins to consider potential answers. We would invite readers to respond and to keep this discussion going.

Finally, a great friend of Primary Music Today, Sue Nicholls, describes a wonderful project that places songs from around the world within a cultural context. This article features a range of practical guidance, free songs, and a story that can be used to weave the whole project together. Can’t wait to try these on my trainee teachers!!

So, all this in one magazine. A bargain indeed! Thank you to all our contributors, and to our readers. We are all in this together, and for one reason: to ensure that primary aged children receive a broad, balanced, well-designed and well-funded music curriculum. Do write to us with your thoughts and ideas so that music education remains at the forefront of thinking in politics and education in this country.

Ian Shirley and Vanessa Young,

Editors, Primary Music Today.