SEND Partnership Work

Sinfonia Viva Music Tour, funded by Children in Need (Phase 2 of a 3 year project)

In March 2018 a group of professional musicians from Sinfonia Viva went on a 3 day tour, visiting 6 SEN schools in Leicester and Leicestershire. They presented an interactive performance, entitled 'The Sky', to all pupils in each school. Leicestershire Music funded resources to be used pre and post performance to enable pupils to gain the most from the performances and to allow for creativity to be built into 'The Sky'.

The 6 schools involved this year were:

Birkett House
Ash Field
The Beacon Academy
Ellesmere
Dorothy Goodman
Maplewell Hall

Case studies

J female, age 7. Amnbulant. MLD

J quickly learnt 'Ah Poor bird'. When we had finished singing the other 2 songs, she was able to recall the melody, the words and the signs without prompt, singing it back to me when I said we were going to try it again.

On the day of the visit, she sat still, spellbound, with the other pupils from primary, listening and watching the cellist and violinist play for 15minutes before school,

J enjoyed the performance, sitting near the front and being asked at one point to come and draw the cat that she had said might miaow in the storm.

After the concert, she designed a thank you card for the musicians, deciding to send hers to one person in particular whose instrument she remembered the name of (several of the other pupils in this class could remember the names of certain musicians).

Later that afternoon, J took part in turning the graphic score devised in the concert into vocal sounds and then selected instruments, following the conductor.

A child in my class, since I have been teaching him has become more and more engaged with music and he was calling out all of the instruments he could see, he was copying Jack pretending to be the conductor and beating time. He sang his heart out with the orchestra. Sometime the hall can be an issue with his anxieties but not today, he was totally engrossed in the performance.

We have a child in a wheelchair in our EYFS class and he loves music. In the walk about warm up session he was trying to really stretch his arms out like in his physio sessions trying to perform all of the actions. He has grinning and babbling throughout. When everyone was singing he was swaying from side to side trying to join in with the words. He had a great time watching and listening to the music.

Quotes:

Thank you so much for what I felt was an excellent morning. Some of our young people will never have experienced a live orchestra and some may not have that opportunity again in the near future so to bring the experience to [us] was inspired. I thought the selection of music was inspiring and at times I was very moved by the beauty of the sounds. I had conversations with other staff afterwards who said the same thing. To see students who were at first reluctant to join in then enjoying every minute and to listen to one young man sitting next to me saying "I recognise this it's really good I can sing it" was lovely.

Thank you so much you and the orchestra have made my term

I really enjoyed the workshop. I think this is one of the most memorable activities we have had in our school and that I have seen in my teacher career. The shiny big balloon song with the orchestra was amazing.

I just wanted to say a big thank you for Sinfonia Viva & Jack's visit last week. I thought it was a huge success and reached out, inspired and captivated our young people… Thanks again for a great morning of music.

Schools that hosted the performance in 2017 were:

Ashmount School
Nether Hall Special School
Forest Way School
Oaklands School
West Gate school
Birch Wood School

We are extremely pleased to announce that we have secured the funding to roll the interactive performance out to 12 more schools in the next 2 years so watch this space.

The excellent performance was well suited to the needs of all students. It engaged all pupils and allowed pupils to respond and the interactive sensory elements enhanced the performance.

Comments from teachers included:

"even those with short attention spans or challenging needs were able to focus."

"Demonstrates what a good communication aid music is and how it is accessible to all – will continue to develop alternative musical delivery within the SEN environment where 'playing' an instrument is open to many different interpretations."

"The event was great – it allowed a space and opportunity for pupils to interact with the music. The musicians were approachable and eager to interact with pupils. At the same time they took adult advice about how best to interact and at what times some pupils had had enough."

"The interaction with the members of the orchestra was fantastic. Our children benefitted from the resources used and a chance to see/touch the instruments."

"We really enjoyed seeing music being played loud- the children's responses were lovely. Definitely would like to experience something similar again if the opportunity arises."

"The children loved it, it was so nice to take time to watch their reactions and their interaction with the musicians"