March
2007
Music Festival 20070
Now that it’s March, things are really getting busy. The children are putting in a lot of effort at school learning their songs and poems and we are now approaching the final run-in to the festival.
With so many children entered in so many competitions it gets quite hectic trying to make sure that everybody gets an opportunity to have a practice. Just relying on getting the work done in music and drama lessons alone isn’t enough. Everyday extra practices are squeezed in beside the children’s normal lessons. It’s really important to us that normal lessons continue and that progress in maths or writing is not lost because of music festival preparations. So first thing in the morning or 5 minutes before lunch, teachers are hearing and practising poems or fitting in a quick burst of Chatanooga Choo Choo!
A great deal of work is carried out during lunch breaks with a rota of different groups of children being heard on different days. Participation at lunchtime is on a voluntary basis for the children with most coming along to the practice.
Music and drama classes allow teachers some quality time to work on poems and songs. Whether children are entering the festival or not, all children learn the poems and songs as part of their music/drama lessons this term. All of the songs are taught to all of the children so that by this time in the term the children have all learned a brand new repertoire! Favourite songs with P.3/4 children at the moment are Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Nellie the Elephant but they do also enjoy Chatanooga Choo Choo! The children in P.5-7 are also enjoying The Bare Necessities and Tears in Heaven. Helen Maddox comes in for an hour every Thursday afternoon which really helps to bring the children onto the next level. Working with a pianist is so much better than working with a tape!!
The next stage is to start hearing children individually to check that they know their words and to give some top tips on performance skills.
The children have all learned their poems very well already so learning to perform their poem is now the big area for development. The most demanding poem this year is most definitely ‘Lament for a Lost Dinner Ticket’. When the children first set eyes on this poem they couldn’t see how they would ever be able to work out what it said, never mind learn and perform it! To help, the whole class have been learning this poem by memorising chunks of sound without looking at the written word. This seems to have worked well and now the whole of P.5-7 can perform the poem and think that it’s brilliant!
The children in P.1-3 are also working hard learning their action song, ‘It Happens Each Spring’, and costumes are already in production .
This year there will also be a wind and brass ensemble taking part in the festival and they will be playing ‘Scotland the Brave’ as well as taking part in their solo competitions.
All in all, busy days at Kilmartin Primary School.
What can parents do to help?
Keep hearing your child say their poem for 5 minutes every night and also go over song words as they really need to learn these too. Many of the children have a CD with the music for the songs so this can help with extra practice. When time allows, more CDs will be produced so that everybody who needs one has one for home. Try not to get to worried if your child’s confidence wobbles a bit in the run up to the festival, just keep encouraging them, after all performing on a stage is quite a thought!
Why do we ‘do’ Music Festival?
It’s always a bonus when some children come back with a cup or other trophy but this isn’t why all this effort is put in. All of the children who enter gain the knowledge that they managed to do something that’s a bit scary and makes their heart pound and gives them butterflies in their tummies. This knowledge that ‘I did it!’ will give the children confidence to try other new things in the future with the knowledge that they do come out the other side and actually enjoyed the experience! What a gift to give our children for their future.
