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Encore Enterprises
Newsletter to Schools and Colleges
September 2023
Welcome to the first newsletter of 2023-24. We have a lot of new and exciting projects coming up, as well as the regular network meetings and courses – hopefully something to suit everyone.
Music on the Move
Music on the Move was a great success in the summer term. We would like to say a big thank you to Hereford College of Arts for their amazing rock and pop performances, and to Encore’s Hannah and Jaz for their inspirational showcase of such a variety of genres: pop, classical, jazz and musical theatre. Thank you to the schools who signed up – we will be running these sessions again after Christmas so that your pupils can experience amazing, high quality live music. More details will follow soon.
Music Development Plan
The National Plan for Music Education (published last year by the government) recommends that all schools have a revised or new Music Development Plan in place by this academic year. The School Music Development Plan should set out how the school will deliver high-quality music provision for all pupils in the three areas of curriculum, co-curricular and enrichment, and against the key features identified in the NPME2:
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timetable curriculum music of at least one hour each week of the school year for key stages 1 to 3
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provide access to lessons across a range of instruments and voice
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develop a school choir and/or vocal ensemble
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develop a school ensemble/band/group
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provide space for rehearsals and individual practice
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develop a termly school performance
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provide opportunity to enjoy live performance at least once a year
If you would like support with writing this for your school, or would like a template, please contact suew@encore-enterprises.co.uk
SEND
There are some great resources from Soundabout, which provides musical support and resources for young children and young adults with profound and multiple disabilities. Please do take a good look around this website, which is full of videos and activities to inspire and excite children through music.
https://www.soundaboutfamily.org.uk/
Soundabout also run a free online choir, which some of our pupils attend one Saturday per month. If any of your families or pupils are interested in this, they can book here:
https://soundaboutchoirs.org.uk/choirs/west-midlands-choir/
This video showcases the brilliant work that Soundabout do in these choirs…it demonstrates how singing and music can bring such joy into people’s lives:
https://www.soundabout.org.uk/news/choirs-release-new-music-video/
OHMI
There should be no barriers to music making, regardless of the disability of the individual.
The OHMI Trust’s objective is a simple one: “we enable children and adults with physical impairments to play the instruments they want to play, when they want to play them and where they want to play them (whether at school, in the home or in a professional ensemble).” www.ohmi.org.uk
If you have a pupil in your school with a physical impairment who would like to learn a musical instrument, you can contact OHMI directly to explore the options available.
EYFS
Our EYFS leader, Wendy Wilson Goddard, has started the next round of training for EYFS teachers. This term she is working in nurseries, building teacher confidence and sharing resources and ideas to promote day-to-day singing and movement. Wendy will be running another set of training sessions for Reception teachers starting in January focusing on Continuous Provision, so please do keep an eye out for these dates.
Subsidy to Schools
Do you teach your own whole class instrumental programme? If so, you are eligible for a subsidy from Encore. Please contact suew@encore-enterprises.com for more details.
Tune-In (WCET)
Our whole class instrumental lessons are now up and running and many of you will have an Encore Tune-In tutor in your school. We hope your pupils enjoy their instrumental learning and start to really love playing and singing together. Here are a few reminders of how to ensure the smooth running of the sessions:
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A school member of staff should be in the room with the Encore tutor, actively participating in the lesson
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This programme is intended to provide high quality CPD to the school staff
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This member of staff should be recording a few sessions as evidence of progression throughout the year and saving it onto your school system (Ofsted will expect to see this). Please do share the learning that is happening in these sessions and tag us at @EncoreHereford
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This member of staff should be assisting the Encore tutor with assessment
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The Tune-In programme is not meant to replace the National Curriculum for music, although much of the curriculum will be covered such as singing and listening.
Training Courses - CPD
There will be a variety of courses run this term for primary teachers:
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Primary and Secondary Network Meetings
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Teaching music for ECTs
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Being a music leader in primary schools
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Music Deep Dive
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Building your choir (plus discussion on resources)
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Charanga
More details can be found on our website:
Singing Projects
STARS Youth Project will continue this term with the exciting opportunity to sing at the ABF Charity Christmas concert in the Cathedral in December. They will be working with the Military Veterans Choir to create a collaboration not to be missed!
“My Happy Mind” Wellbeing Singing Sessions are being run this term in one of Herefordshire’s primary schools. An Encore vocal teacher will be working alongside the themes from the ‘My Happy Mind’ app to support wellbeing in the school.
Herefordshire Schools G4 Project will begin this term! We are very excited to be working with the world famous G4 and taking part in their Hereford Cathedral tour date. There are 5 schools taking part and will spend this term learning the repertoire in preparation. It will also be a great opportunity for the pupils to make some new friends and experience the joy of singing in what will be an amazing night! This is the first time Encore have partnered with G4 and we hope to make this a regular event, so please do let us know if you would like your school to be involved in future events.
Choir Player Partnership. We are pleased to announce that we have now partnered up with Choir Player to create low-cost links which will give you full access to songs and resources to teach songs related to topics including: Acceptance, Strength, Appreciate, and Climate Change to name but a few! This is a brilliant piece of technology which takes all the work and stress out for teachers who may lack confidence with singing.
We also have some really exciting workshops happening in the Spring term, where pupils will have the opportunity to work with Westend ‘Wicked’ workshop leaders (KS4 and post 16 students) and the Academy from the world famous Voces8. More details will follow nearer the time.
If you are interested in any of these singing projects please email: jlowry@encore-enterprises.com
Youth Music
Do you have pupils in your school who play an instrument from about Grade 1 standard onwards? If so, please encourage them to join one of our youth music ensembles.
Click here for more details or contact: lisa@encore-enterprises.com
Livewire
Livewire is our Popular Music programme consisting of weekly drop-in sessions (Livewire Tuesdays), Saturday sessions (Livewire Saturdays) and week-long programmes that take place during the half term (Livewire Central). Livewire is open to anyone aged 11 - 21 who is interested in music. During these sessions you can explore different song & lyric writing methods, an original take on covers, band development & recording. There is even the opportunity to perform at live gigs. For more information: chrisb@encore-enterprises.com
Dates For Your Diary
Encore Youth Music Concerts
Encore Youth Music Autumn Concert - Saturday 25th November 2:00pm
St John’s Methodist Church, St Owen’s Street, Hereford
Livewire Saturday Gig - Saturday 25th November 3:45pm
Hereford College of Arts, Folly Lane, Hereford
HYO and HYCB Concert - Saturday 2nd December 7:30pm
Holy Trinity Church, Hereford
HYCB Carols - Saturday 9th December 12pm - 2pm
Old Market, Hereford
ABF Concert featuring HYCB - Wednesday 13th December 7:00pm
Hereford Cathedral
School Network Meetings
Next Primary Music Network meeting – Tuesday 3rd October 4:30pm – 5:30pm
Next Secondary Music Network meeting – Wednesday 4th October 4:30pm – 5:30pm