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Sunday, 30 August 2015
Monday, 11 May 2015
Monday, 27 April 2015
A chance to shine!
David Morley from Long Meadow Primary school in Milton Keynes talks about giving children the chance to shine...
Despite
everyone's best intentions to never let it happen again, the end of year
'Leaver's Production' always gets left to the last minute. Everything just
seems to get in the way... sports days (which inevitably get cancelled and
rearranged so another day is lost), transition days at secondary schools,
residential visits etc. It leaves so little time to prepare, rehearse, source
costumes and learn lines. And every year we turn to Edgy Productions to bail us
out!
With time
pressure so great, teachers need to be able to grab ready-made, off the shelf
material, that they know they can trust. Last year our Year Six children
performed 'Let Loose' and without a doubt, it was one of the best performances
that the school has ever produced. There were plenty of great parts to be
shared out among the children, with none of the main parts too huge. It
provided all of our children with the chance to shine.
The level of
humour in the Edgy shows is always terrific. Some of the gags make the children
roar with laughter, whilst others leave the children silent and the adults
rolling in the aisles. Certainly, ‘Let Loose’ was no exception to this. The
misfortune, disaster, farce and resolution provided a perfect platform for the
children to excel. Our parents loved the show too. It marks the final
culmination, the end of an era, which has seen the transition of them tearfully
dropping off a shy four-year-old on their first day at school to watching the
confident, bubbly eleven-year-old that they see on the stage before them.
Performing ‘Let
Loose’ brought our staff, pupils and parents together on those last few special
days in primary school, allowing them to graduate to secondary school with even
more special memories of their time together.
David Morley, Dep. Head Teacher Long Meadow Primary School |
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Natasha Clemitshaw, Year 6 teacher at Canon Popham CE Primary School in Doncaster is our guest blogger this week. She shares the benefits of staging musical productions at primary level.
“At Canon Popham
CE Primary School our shared vision is to nurture our children within a happy,
stimulating and caring environment. We pride ourselves on being a school where
everyone is welcome and respected, where we expect and celebrate high standards
and we nurture students’ self-esteem on a journey of self-discovery.
With this in
mind, we offer students creative opportunities to be involved in school
productions.
For the last five
years, I have been addicted to using Edgy Productions’ Year 6 leavers’ musicals
and the benefits have been numerous. Staging end-of-year/leavers' musicals about school
life means children can bring something of
themselves to the parts they are playing and the lyrics they are singing. As a
leavers’ or end-of-year show it's also a celebration of their school life; they
jump at the chance to play the roles of teachers, parents and other adults,
poking fun in a sensitive way.
Moreover, this
type of production makes it easier for teachers who don’t come from a
background in drama or music because teachers can relate to the stories too! With Edgy Productions’ in particular, scripts
are supported by clear costume and prop ideas, materials of which can be found
easily around school. The same goes for the setting too, lightening the workload
for the teacher or teaching assistant directing the production.
The final weeks after
Year 6 students sit their SATs exams can sometimes drag. Staging a production
during this time gives pupils a challenging yet fun project to focus on. It
brings them together as a team and gives the children the opportunity to showcase
their skills, as well develop new ones.
Once the
production has come to an end the final song sung is often met with tears from
both children and parents alike. This outpouring of emotion means that children
will never forget their Year 6 leavers’ musical and how they were a part of
bringing this to life. These musicals give the children a closure on their
primary years in a positive way by providing a group bonding experience.
I can’t recommend
staging a Year 6 leavers’ musical highly enough to other schools.”
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Tickling the Ivories
It’s fair to say we’re a pretty musical family. Music is
what puts food on our table and pays the bills. The house is littered with
instruments we’ve acquired over the years and we are the proud owners of a
lovely piano, bequeathed to us by my late step-father who was himself an
accomplished and respected musician and teacher. Our daughter and her younger
brother have both taken piano lessons since they were 6 years old and are progressing
through their grades…but, you see, we have a bit of a problem.
Whilst our daughter embraces the process of learning the
instrument in a formal way, our son regards his teacher (a warm, friendly and
very relaxed lady) as his arch-nemesis. The colour drains from his face at 3.45
on a Wednesday when the doorbell announces her arrival, and getting him to
practise even twice a week, let alone daily, without tears and arguments is but
a pipe-dream. We’ve read every ‘How To get Your Child To Practise’ manual from
cover to cover, but we are at a point now where we believe that to continue his
formal tuition would be detrimental to his happiness and our sanity.
I can hear the gasps from ‘proper’ musicians out there. Yes,
we’re aware of the statistics – only 10% of children take musical instrument
lessons but 90% of adults wish they had. I agree whole-heartedly that for those
children who take to the discipline, whose characters and personalities lend
themselves to the structure of working through grades at a young age, the
benefits are enormous. But here’s the thing; before starting lessons, our son
would happily sit at the piano of his own volition and amuse himself with the
sounds and rudimentary tunes he could elicit. He showed a natural musical
ability, which we hoped lessons would enhance and develop. Unfortunately this has
not been the case, and slowly we’ve seen his joy in playing the piano diminish.
So, after much soul-searching, we’ve decided to knock it on the head.
I recently read a fascinating blog by Charles London,
entitled ‘Boys Don’t Read, Except When They Do’ which, as the title implies,
tackles that ubiquitous educational issue of boys showing significantly less
enthusiasm for reading than girls. I urge you to have a look here.
London argues that ‘boys today are consuming more text than at any time in
human history. Adults simply are not valuing the reading that boys are doing.’
Indeed, he goes on to explain how research has shown that boys themselves don’t
regard the literature they enjoy (gaming manuals, comics, sport magazines, fact
books) as ‘proper’ reading. And why would they when, throughout their early
education, little more than lip-service is paid to the subject matter and
styles of text they find stimulating. This is especially noticeable in the
literature used to assess their reading. How can a boy’s ability to analyse and
interpret text be fairly compared to that of a girl, when that chosen text is
significantly more suited to the tastes of the latter.
So how does this excellent article relate to our problem?
Well, one reason our son gives us for not wanting to continue piano lessons is
that, unlike his sister, he doesn’t consider himself musical. Yet after much
deliberation, reflection and discussion, my wife and I realised that he does
have a passion for music, but it’s a passion which sits outside the regime of
timetabled lessons, practising scales and negotiating his way around a stave.
For instance, on car journeys he loves being in charge of
the in-flight playlist, treating us to an eclectic mix of Neil Diamond, Led
Zeppelin, Ludovic Einaudi, Jeff Buckley, Ministry Of Sound 80s Anthems and some
nasty thumping techno pop which, to quote Morrissey ‘says nothing to me about my
life’! When he thinks no one is listening he plugs in one of my old electric
guitars (the expensive ones are off-limits) and simply makes noises, exploring
the fret board and wreaking havoc on the whammy bar! We’ll often find him with
drumsticks, beating out increasing complex rhythms on different surfaces –
sometimes drums, sometimes his thighs, but mostly the furniture. And then
there’s his keyboard, with over two hundred different pre-set sounds and
rhythms to choose from. Without any parental coercion he regularly just sits
and amuses himself with all the machine has to offer. He’ll pick out familiar
tunes, experimenting with different sounds and beats. He’ll try to work out the
chords to his favourite songs (currently it’s the delightful ‘Sideburns Song’
by Tobuscus – don’t ask). Oh, and he’ll spend ages repeatedly pressing the key
that makes a fart sound.
Sadly, I can’t recall the last time he chose to sit at
the piano just to tickle the ivories for his own amusement. Fingers crossed it
won’t be too long.
Tuesday, 17 March 2015
Friday, 28 June 2013
Stage fright!
Just a comforting (I hope)
message to all of you who are currently getting hot under the collar about your
forthcoming leavers’ productions. I’m assuming that, as D-day approaches, there’s been
lots of yelling, arguing, threats of cancellation, pulling out of hair, vowing never
to put on a musical again…etc etc. There certainly used to be when I produced
an end-of-year show.
Anticipation of the big
night used to leave me more than a little on edge; in fact, the only situation I've been in that has caused the butterflies to rampage through my delicate
abdominal region with greater force is when I've assumed the duties of best
man. I've had this dubious honour three
times now, which is a higher than average tally even for a man of my years. When
I just think of the responsibility and pressure of this vital role, I still get
a churning sensation. Anyone who’s safely delivered an old chum into the
matrimonial arms of his intended will tell you that organising a stag weekend,
or safeguarding the rings, is a stroll in the park compared to the ‘big job’.....the
speech.
Very much like your pending
production, it has to be well-delivered, slick, and with the right level of emotion.
It must have pace and be audible to the deafest of elderly relatives sitting at
the back of the room. Above all, however, it has to be funny. For it to be
considered successful it needs to cause titters, giggles, chuckles and
belly-laughs a-plenty. During my last-but-one foray into bestmanland, as I sat
at the top table next to the father of the bride (who’d just delivered a
top-drawer speech of his own), he could obviously sense the anxiety and stage
fright as my moment in the spotlight drew near. ‘Don’t worry’, he told me. ‘What
you must remember is that you have a captive audience. They’re on your side.
They’ll forgive the nerves, the fluffed lines and the jokes that are misjudged
or badly timed. They’re all here for the same reason, to celebrate a landmark in
their friends’ and families’ lives. They’ll be supportive and encouraging, willing
you to do well because they’re simply happy to be a part of this special occasion.
You can’t go wrong…..I promise.’ And I didn’t. With a well-earned glass of
bubbly I basked in the compliments and pats on the back and wondered why I’d
ever got myself so worked up.
And so it will be for you
and your class during your leavers’ production. In spite of your fears, children
always pull it out the bag and your performance will end with lots of soggy
hankies, red eyes and big smiles….I promise.
Break a leg!
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