Music making for children with Disabilites – What does best practice look like?

Visions of flight
This is a short post about the idea of  ‘best practice’ when supporting music in the SEN classroom.  The challenges faced by students, teachers and practitioners are many and varied and this means your approach needs to be flexible.

 

 

We have worked with the team at Drake Music Scotland for a number of years on all kinds of things but I wanted to draw your attention to the ‘Inclusive classroom’ project they have been running with Edinburgh schools for the last few years.  The project was initially driven by Stevi Manning at Edinburgh council and the goal was to support inclusive practice in music making across the Edinburgh SEN schools and units. As well as supporting schools with equipment the project enabled Drake Music Scotland to provide the support and CPD  essential to ensure legacy and effective delivery.  What is also key is that the schools themselves actively supported the project and the teaching staff rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in!

(YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE PERFORMANCE HERE:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikv7gnCJb3Y)

This project illustrates how an eclectic and inclusive approach really works and I urge you to watch the short video of the final performance that brought together 9 schools to perform their own compositions at the Queen’s Hall earlier this year. It was truly magical to see all the schools working together. The music is wonderful. You will see a range of techniques (such as figure notes), technologies (Skoogs, Soundbeams, iPads) and instruments, including voice and body percussion! Please watch and share with your networks. And Pete Sparks, Artistic Director at Drake Music Scotland, you are a gem!

Visions of flight
Watch the Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikv7gnCJb3Y

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikv7gnCJb3Y

Here is a link to the Drake music Scotland Site: http://www.drakemusicscotland.org/news/inspiring-new-video-of-a-vision-of-flight/

Congratulations to all involved.

Please share this video with your network, examples like this are inspiring and help raise awareness of what children are capable of given the right support.

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