Every child has a voice
We’re musicians and educators who believe in what happens when children make music together. Since 2014, we’ve helped primary schools give music a lasting place in children’s lives. At the heart of our work is the teacher, with the training and support to make those lessons count.
Every child has a voice
We’re musicians and educators who believe in what happens when children make music together. Since 2014, we’ve helped primary schools give music a lasting place in children’s lives. At the heart of our work is the teacher, with the training and support to make those lessons count.
40,000+ children taught every week
Good music starts with people
Sing Education began in 2014 with a practical problem and a shared belief. Schools were struggling to find good music teachers. We knew how much a teacher could mean to a child’s experience of music, and wanted more children to have that chance.
Behind it were Josh and Alice Cadman, a married couple, and their close friend Bert Routledge. As musicians, we wanted to help children discover the pleasure of singing and playing together. That meant investing in the people leading the room.
An accomplished musician has much to offer a classroom. Becoming an excellent teacher takes further learning and support. We built Sing Education to help musicians and music graduates make that journey, with a carefully developed curriculum and training that continues throughout their work with us.
We’ve grown organically and remain founder-owned and founder-led. Today, our work reaches more than 40,000 children each week. We still run the business together, with the same commitment to developing teachers and giving children music they can carry through their lives.
It starts with the voice
It’s simple. It starts with the voice. Clear as a bell. Soft as a purr. Powerful as an idea.
The singing voice is our primary instrument. Our teaching is singing-led and Kodály-inspired: children experience musical ideas before meeting the words and notation that explain them. Teachers model the music clearly, then help children recognise and use what they are learning.
We look for the ‘aha’ when an idea makes sense, and the ‘wow’ when the music comes together. A rhythm understood becomes a rhythm played. A part practised becomes part of a whole. The learning gives children the skills to make music together.
Find your school’s way into music
You might need a music teacher, or support for the teachers you already have. Sing Education Classroom gives class teachers a curriculum with on-screen specialist guidance. Sing Education Specialist brings our specialist music teaching into school. Sing Education Tuition offers parent-funded instrumental and singing lessons.
You can combine services around your school’s needs. Our specialist teachers work in schools across England, and schools across the UK and internationally use Sing Education Classroom.
Sing Education
Classroom
Help your teachers lead music with confidence.
Your teachers lead the class, with specialist guidance in every lesson.
- A sequenced curriculum from EYFS to Year 6
- On-screen specialists who model the music
- Ready-to-teach plans and interactive slides
- Built-in training and ongoing support
For schools where class teachers will lead music, with specialist guidance throughout the programme.
Sing Education
Specialist
Bring specialist music teaching into your school.
Our team delivers a planned music programme, with the teaching, curriculum, training and management all included.
- Curriculum teaching and PPA cover
- Singing assemblies and extracurricular music
- Training, cover and ongoing management
- Regular quality assurance
For schools that want in-person expertise and reliable PPA cover, with the teaching and wider music programme agreed around their needs.
Sing Education
Tuition
Give pupils the chance to take their music further.
Instrumental and singing lessons take place in school, with the organisation handled by our team.
- One-to-one and small-group lessons
- Tutors who support each pupil’s development
- Parent registration and billing
- Timetabling and administration
For schools looking to offer additional music lessons alongside their class curriculum, with families registering through the school programme.
Why music?
Do you remember your primary school music teacher? Their way of boldly marching to demonstrate rhythm? Or of tempting the very shyest to join in lessons?
Those experiences can stay with you. So can the feeling that music is for other people. We want every child to have the chance to discover what they can do.
There is something extraordinary about a room of children singing together. Each voice belongs to someone, but the sound belongs to everyone. It takes practice to hold your own part while hearing how it fits with everyone else. Children learn to do both.
We want music to become something children choose to return to long after they leave primary school. Something they can listen to with pleasure, or make for themselves.
Our founders
Sing Education is owned and led by its three founders. We bring different strengths to the work, with a shared commitment to children’s music education and the people who teach it.
Josh Cadman
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Josh leads Sing Education’s direction and growth, building the organisation behind the teaching. He works with schools and partners to understand what they need and develop lasting relationships. His focus is on helping Sing Education reach more children while supporting the people who make the music happen.
Alice Cadman
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer
Alice shapes the educational vision behind Sing Education’s products, including Sing Education Classroom. She connects the way children learn music with the way teachers learn to teach it. Her work brings curriculum and ongoing teacher development together, helping the team turn that vision into thoughtful, confident classroom teaching.
Bert Routledge
Co-Founder & Director of Tuition
Bert leads Sing Education Tuition, helping pupils take their music further through instrumental and singing lessons. He guides the programme’s development, with a focus on excellent teaching and a positive experience for families. As a founder, he also helps shape Sing Education’s brand and how we share our work.
A shared commitment to music
In Yorkshire and the Tees Valley, we work with the Richard Shephard Music Foundation, a charity founded in memory of the composer, conductor and teacher.
We provide the curriculum, teachers and training for its weekly Schools Programme. The Foundation raises charitable funds to subsidise the cost for schools and offers enrichment opportunities for children. Its impact report shares school feedback and children’s experiences of the programme.
Trusted by school leaders
Bring your music into the classroom
Are you a musician who loves working with children? Whether you’re a music graduate or an experienced teacher, we’d like to hear from you.
We’ll help you develop your teaching, with a shared curriculum and ongoing training. Most of our teachers are permanently employed. We want you to build a working life in music, with colleagues to learn alongside and room to grow.
Let's plan music for your school
Tell us what you need
Talk us through your current music provision and what you want for your pupils.
Review your proposal
We’ll set out the support we recommend and the cost, with time for your questions.
Agree how to begin
Once you’re ready, we’ll agree a start date and organise the setup with your team.