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

Singing at school shouldn't just be for Christmas, teachers say Many children find themselves singing at school in the run up to Christmas - at a nativity play or carol concert, often with parents watching proudly on. But new data suggests singing is a much less common occurrence throughout the rest of the school year, especially after pupils leave primary school. Now, an association of music teachers says every school should have a choir, to help pupils embrace music after a years-long decline in its popularity as a GCSE subject. The government says it is investing in high quality music teaching and that a "renewed curriculum" will encourage more people to study it. In a recent survey, Teacher Tapp asked just under 10,000 teachers in England how often their whole school sang together in assembly. Over half of state secondary school teachers (57%) said their pupils never sang together in assembly, while just 13% of private secondary school teachers and only 4% of primary teachers said the same. Teachers were separately asked whether their schools had a choir. Just over a third (36%) of teachers at state secondaries reported having no choir at their school, compared to just 8% of private school secondary teachers. Having access to multiple school choirs was much more common at private schools, with three quarters (77%) of private secondary teachers saying their school had more than one choir, compared to 27% of state secondary teachers. Jackie Bowen, head teacher at The East Manchester Academy, says secondary school pupils can feel "embarrassed - or that maybe it's not cool to sing like it was in primary school". But she says singing and music are priorities at the school. "We know the intrinsic value of music, but also what it does for students' development, mental health, its impact on academic achievements," she says. "So we've run lots of initiatives to try and break down barriers to music." The school offers a music hub at the school once a week, offering pupils time with specialist teachers from the Royal Northern College of Music. At lesson changeover, students hear classical music instead of the traditional bell. The school has also established its first gospel choir. Year 11 student Mercy, who's part of the choir, says she always wanted to continue singing at secondary school. "In primary they say you have to sing, but when you come to secondary it's a choice, so most people don't do it," she says. "I feel like we should all release our voices to the world. Whether you're good or not, just sing." There has been a 25% drop in pupils studying GCSE music at schools in England over the last fifteen years, despite an uptick in the most recent stats. That is partly down to the introduction of a progress measure for schools called the English Baccalaureate in 2010, which assessed schools based on how many pupils took English, maths, sciences, geography or history and a language - and how well they performed....

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