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Encore Enterprises
Newsletter to Schools and Colleges
September 2024
Welcome back! We hope you had a great summer and feel recharged and are ready to tackle a new year. We have a lot of music support already in place for the year and we’re excited to work with you and help with any music provision in your schools.
School Partnership
Many of you have already signed up to our school partnership this year, but we would love to increase our numbers to help our funding applications each year. School partnership with Encore is completely free and we can provide you with subsidised training and access to our list of Accredited Teachers, amongst many other benefits. (Please see page 5 of our Services and Information Brochure sent to all schools in June 2024 for more details). It is quick to sign up and would really help with our data return to have more schools involved in this. If you haven’t already become a partner school, please click the link below, it takes less than 2 minutes to complete the form:
https://www.encore-enterprises.com/partnershipagreementform
If you are not sure if you school is currently signed up as a partner school, you can check our partner school list here.
Singing Zoom – Sing Up Day with Jo Lowry: June 2024
Encore’s EYFS lead, Wendy Wilson Goddard, will be starting a new course for EYFS teachers. There will be three amazing offers throughout the year:
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Tuesday 22nd October 2024: Sing, Move, Play – Songs and musical activities (9:15am -12:15pm) plus THREE support visits throughout the year, to be arranged with the teacher
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Tuesday 25th February 2025: Sing, Move, Play – Story Box (9:15am -12:15pm)
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Tuesday 10th June 2025: Sing, Move, Play – Music and Movement (9:15am -12:15pm)
You can find more information, along with the option to sign up, via the link below:
https://www.encore-enterprises.com/sing-move-play
Sing, Move, Play has been a great success so far and we really want to keep building on these important years for musical development, impacting on so many areas of a child’s life.
Accredited Instrumental Teachers
If you have pupils who would like to learn an instrument during the school day, we have a list of Accredited Teachers who can teach your pupils on a 1:1 or small group basis. These teachers have all received Encore’s safeguarding training and have DBS certificates.
If you need access to this list, please complete the partnership agreement form (above), and then contact Sue Walker who will then give you the link and password. Most teachers are very happy to come in and give a demo to your pupils and hopefully build more instrumental teaching in your school.
CPD
Encore’s Music Education Manager, Sue Walker, is available to visit each school for one complimentary session, up to two hours, during the year. This could be to discuss your Music Development Plan, your scheme of work, trying a new scheme, improving and developing singing, supporting ECTs, or just to share all the amazing music that may be going on in your school. She would love to visit all schools so please do contact her to arrange your free visit: swalker@encore-enterprises.com
Our CPD page is up and running with updated offers for training for the year. The first one to note is on Thursday 19th September, where we will be discussing the government expectation that all schools will have a summary of their Music Development Plan on their website this year. You should already have received an email about this session, but if you haven’t, please do go onto our website and sign up. The second training session coming up is from Charanga on Tuesday 24th September – there is a link for booking on our webpage:
OHMI
Do you have a pupil in your school with a hand/arm difference or disability who would like to learn a musical instrument? If so, OHMI’s Music Makers can give financial support as well as providing adapted instruments/equipment.
Please contact faye@ohmi.org.uk or go to www.ohmi.org.uk if you would like more information. Encore and OHMI have worked together for a number of years now and have a number pupils in the county who are currently learning on adapted instruments – they are an amazing charity so please do have a browse on their website if you are interested to find out more.
Sparkyard
If you are looking for a music scheme of work for your school, Sparkyard offer a 30% discount for Herefordshire schools. It is a great scheme with the additional bonus of having access to all the Out of the Ark songbooks, therefore providing curriculum support and singing support across the whole school (starting in EYFS).
There is the option to trial the scheme before you commit. If you would like to buy into this resource, you can contact Sue Walker to receive the discount code: swalker@encore-enterprises.com
Encore's Youth Music Ensembles
We would be really grateful if you could talk to your pupils about Encore’s youth music ensembles. We have such a variety of musical opportunities outside of the school day, and it would be great to have the support of schools and instrumental teachers to encourage your pupils to come along and enjoy music making with others.
If you have pupils in your school who play an instrument from about Grade 1 standard onwards, or who love singing and would like to join our Youth Choir, please click here for more details or contact: lisa@encore-enterprises.com
Singing News
Song Therapy
Our Singing for Wellbeing Leader, Jo Lowry ,has recently trained as a Song Therapist. She has been working at Hampton Dene Primary School as a Song Therapist with individual pupils and has also recently started a Wellbeing choir at the school. If you are interested in finding out more about Song Therapy, please email: jlowry@encore-enterprises.com
VOCES8
VOCES8 are returning to Herefordshire to work with our schools again this year. The VOCES8 Foundation is a music education charity that works with schools and communities to empower people through singing. The charity’s vocal ensembles include Grammy-nominated VOCES8, Apollo5 and the VOCES8 Foundation Singers all of whom perform and lead education projects across the UK and around the world. Last year they worked with some of our primary schools and this year they are coming to work with secondary schools. There are spaces for 5 secondary schools to participate and these are already going quickly, so if you’re interested or would like more information, please email: lisa@encore-enterprises.com
Herefordshire Schools G4 Project
G4 will be returning this term! We are very excited to be working with the world famous G4 for the second year and taking part in their Hereford Cathedral tour date. Places are already filled for this so unfortunately we cannot offer any spaces for this year, but do look out for an email from Jo Lowry in the Spring Term, when we will hopefully be advertising this again for schools to participate in 2025.
STARS Youth Project
The STARS youth project will be participating in the ABF Charity Christmas concert in the Cathedral in December. STARS is a singing project specifically for Service Pupil Premium pupils of all ages, so if you would like your SPP pupils to take part, please email: jlowry@encore-enteprises.com
Herefordshire Youth Choir
Herefordshire Youth Choir has already started this term at the new time of 9.30am on a Saturday morning. This choir is open to all pupils aged 9-18, no experience is necessary. Please do tell your pupils about this choir, sending this link out in your newsletters so parents can find out more and sign up: https://www.encore-enterprises.com/herefordshireyouthchoir
Dates For Your Diary
Wednesday 9th October 2024
Primary Network Meeting (Online)
Saturday 23rd November 2024 - 2:00pm
Encore Youth Music Autumn Concert
St Nicholas Church, Barton Rd
Saturday 30th November 2024 - 3:45pm
Livewire Saturday Gig
Hereford College of Arts, Folly Lane
Saturday 7th December 2024 - 7:30pm
HYO and HYCB Concert
St Nicholas Church, Barton Rd
Wednesday 11th December 2024 - 7:00pm
ABF Concert featuring HYCB:
Hereford Cathedral
Saturday 14th December 2024 - 12:00pm
HYCB Carols
Old Market, Hereford