Impact
Music is at the heart of Hackney New Primary School
The impact of the Music Curriculum on the children has been clear to all staff working in school:
“…I’ve notice a child who responds overwhelmingly positively to music. As a child with multiple extra needs, it is important to discover ways of helping the child with learning and well being. Anytime I have seen this child singing, this child is lit up with joy…” (Reception Support Teacher)
“…It has been lovely to see this child’s journey, becoming stronger and more involved in music lessons. At the start of Reception this child had limited vocabulary and speech communication skills, and in music would commonly sit and listen to the songs sung by the others. The repetition of the songs each week and the amount of vocabulary and learning of different songs has improved this child’s communication within the class, who is now able to join in easily and remember many different songs. This has also helped the child’s ability to interact with others in the class by joining in with group singing during play based learning times…” (Reception Teacher)
“…I have noticed the effect music has had on children with English as an additional language. Two children came into Reception with limited vocabulary and unable to string more than a two worded sentence together. At Christmas both children were able to use full sentences and communicate to others in their class. I believe that the half hour of music and learning new vocabulary through songs helped the girls to understand English language much better and at a faster rate…” (Reception Teacher)
“…One child started at HNPS that found it very difficult to focus during small group and whole class teaching time and would often become quite disruptive. This difficulty in coping with more structured time would often result in him throwing objects, rolling around and making loud noises. Staff noticed that when singing took place, this child would automatically stop and join in. This allowed the child to participate more fully in his learning and to build positive relationships with peers. There’s a lovey video on Tapestry of this child singing with a friend. It demonstrates the positive relationship through a shared experience…”(Deputy Headteacher)
“…I know a child who struggles with language, often confusing or omitting words when speaking. When singing however, this child is able to sing with fluency and can recall lyrics in the correct order…” (Year 2 Support Teacher)
‘Lovely day working with children at #hackneynewprimaryschool where music is a core subject. All children play a string instrument. Amazing discipline. Coincidence?’
(Thomas Gregory)
The wealth of anecdotal evidence of the impact of the music curriculum has prompted to the school to look deeper into the effects of music to support this with robust scientific findings (please see Advocating for Music, Artsmark)