Musical Beasts Case Study

Aims of the Project

• To offer fully funded high-quality, differentiated live music opportunities for Leicestershire special schools to support them in meeting the National Plan for Music Education.
• To engage with children who would otherwise be unlikely to access live, professional music-making in a meaningful way.

Target participants
Children aged 3 to 19 at special needs schools in Leicestershire, reaching those with a full and wide range of disabilities from MLD to PLD.
Accompanying support staff

Summary of activities delivered during the project
Live music performance
Live interactive musical experiences
Pre- and post-concert learning activities via online resources

Engagement
Total schools: 7
Total children: 652
Children with SEN/EHC: 642 (98.5% of total)
↳ of which are also eligible for pupil premium ↳ 219 (33.6% of total)
Looked After Children: 25 (3.8% of total)

Here are filtered comments made by school about what might have made the experience better

Better balance of spoken story over music Peter and the Wolf (some speakers more audible than others) microphones for the speakers
We fed this back to our technical team and perform better checks to make sure the balance is perfect

Either no song and more 1-1 interaction time at the end or more time spent teaching the song
We will continue to ask schools about the balance of activities and whether there is anything we can do to help with the teaching of the song

How performers explained the different instruments to the young people and introduced them to the sound one at a time
We will continue to refine the language used by our musicians

Comments and insights: Resources
Schools were asked to give comments about what were the most useful resources and what might have made their experience better.

Here are filtered comments made by school about what might have made the experience better.

We had one child who was due to see both Peter and the Wolf and Bear. When he returned for Peter the costumes scared him but in hindsight we could have prepared him better for that using your resources
During the time this project was running we have been able to photograph the performance which hopefully allows schools to see what this will be like.

We initially could not get access to online Bear and piano resources but this was rectified quickly.

As the resource was password protected it was blocked by our schools security settings making it difficult to access prior to the performance. It could have been better to have a website to log into with a password and then access the link from there?
Our resources are hosted on our website on a page requiring a password to access, in much the same way as a log in process. We can't guarantee that every school's firewall and security settings will allow access to our website, and we can only advise schools to speak to their service providers if they experience these access issues. For the vast majority of our users, access via this route is not a problem, or is solved quickly with our advice

• All pupils were engaged, showing this through joining in, smiling, vocalising engaging with movement. In particular those that got up and moved among the performers were made to feel relaxed and part of the performance itself.
• All feedback from staff has been that this was an incredibly positive experience for all and all commented on how well the performers responded to pupils.
• One child in particular has never been known to sit for a lesson or activity and came and sat calmly on a mat for a significant period to watch.
• The students were engaged from start to finish. They loved the costumes that the performers wore and that they got an opportunity to use some of the instruments at the end.
• The excitement of students being so engaged with the sounds and the playfulness of the performers wonderful interactions with students when the team moved around the hall. students showing their piano skills and being proud of their talents
• To see some of our youngest learners so entranced with the performers was amazing.
• One of the children rarely interacts with other[s], even those who are very well known to him but he was fascinated with one of the performers … it was wonderful.
• Some of the most difficult to engage young people, with extremely complex needs were captivated by the performance and maintain focus through the performances.

I can't praise this experience enough. I have worked in SEN and helped to deliver and organise events and performances throughout my teaching career and this has been easily one of the best experiences for our pupils that I have seen. Up there in my top 3 with singing hands and bamboozle.

It was such an amazing opportunity for our young people and we have had nothing but the most positive feedback from all our staff. We were so impressed by your understanding of a school like ours and what approach our pupils need. All pupils engaged well and we had some really amazing moments of engagement
that are quite rare for some of our pupils.

The interaction with the young people at the start and the end. This got the students really engaged and they felt then connected with the performers as they knew their names and what sound their instrument made.

Only good feedback from staff and loved how everyone could watch it together after so long without mixing

From our youngest children to our oldest members of staff, we all were mesmerised by the performances and the children's reactions to them. It was an amazing day.

The musicians (as well as being extremely talented people) were deeply respectful and showed incredible awareness of the young people's individual needs, allowing them to experience live instruments, including up close and having a go themselves. The significance of this for young people who struggle with sensory
processing difficulties and who would not otherwise be able to experience live classical music is huge!

My wow moment - Lexi joining in and then continuing the motif at the same speed and pitch when the musicians stopped!

My wow moment was when the oboist played 'colours of the rainbow' and A mimicked the member of staff's mouth movements as she sang to him. This made me (his teacher) sob! Fortunately I was able to capture it on camera and this will be a treasured memory.

The professionalism and kindness you guys showed the children was exemplary of a community performer in an SEN environment. Thank you so much for the wonderful day you gave us all.

The children (and staff) all had a fabulous day and it was truly amazing to see the children interacting and focusing in ways that we do not usually see. We were truly blown away with how perfect it was for our children.