Sing Education’s peripatetic music service has special expertise in SEND teaching. We work closely with SENDCos, Inclusion Managers and class teachers to ensure every child is engaging and benefiting from their music tuition, adapting lessons, experiences and settings as required. The result? Children have a positive experience with music that impacts their wider school life and academic performance.
Inclusivity is at the core of our approach, from the practical delivery of music lessons to the way our schemes of work develop, to engage all children.
During the 2019/20 academic year, our SEND intern met with many of our partner school SENDCos to ensure that our lessons are inclusive to the needs of their specific children.
Further to our more in-depth study of the inclusivity of our lessons in 2019/20, our teachers continue to meet with SENDCo’s, Inclusion Managers and class teachers to discuss any specific needs, to gain expertise and to implement any necessary adaptations. Our teachers have opportunities to share and learn from each other’s experience at our team training sessions.
Whilst our focus is to ensure that all lessons are inclusive, we also offer small group SEND-specific music classes at some schools to supplement our music provision. Children who are part of these groups attend both the regular lesson with their class, but also receive some extra tuition in a small group setting, tailored specifically to help them engage with and benefit from the power of music.
‘Singing for Enjoyment’ lunchtime sessions in the playground at some schools, are an opportunity for some extra music-making, outside of the classroom setting, for any children wishing to join in.
Schools often find that their children having a positive experience in music, spills out into the wider life of the child within the school.
Headteachers, SENDCo’s, SLT and class teachers regularly observe that children who perhaps struggle with certain elements of the school day, engage particularly well with music lessons. For children who have difficulty engaging or communicating, music can be a way in which to explore this. Singing assemblies and curricular lessons are an opportunity for all children to make music together and to create something powerful and transformative.
