In this video the Teacher and Teaching Assistants are doing a ‘call & echo’ singing activity with 5 pupils, during a Drake Music/Sounds Of Intent session at the school. They are using only 1 microphone and when there is a break in the song, it is the pupil’s turn to sing (do the call) and the rest of the group then reply by repeating the sound back (doing the echo).
Experiences
Accessible Singing At Stephen Hawking School - Using Sounds Of Intent
By Gary Day - 02/05/2013Natalie is a pupil at Stephen Hawking School in Limehouse, London. In this video she is participating in call and response, singing a song called 'Nanuma', which is a traditional song from Ghana.
Sounds Of Intent Session - Amy playing the electric guitar using iPad app Thumb Jam
By Gary Day - 30/04/2013This video is from one of the Sounds Of Intent sessions currently taking place at Cherry Garden School in Bermondsey, London.
Ian plays the Soundbeam (and rocks out to Nirvana...)
By jonathanwestrup - 25/04/2013Background
This film clip is from a Drake Music BTEC Performing Arts session at Claremont Secondary Special School in Bristol. The school caters for children from 2 to 19 years old who have physical disabilities and a range of additional and/or associated learning needs, sensory impairment and a range of health needs.
Description
Teaching assistant leading a song in a special school
By jonathanwestrup - 07/03/2013
Background
This film clip is from a Drake Music RAMPitUp! session at Paternoster Community Special School in Cirencester. In the film a teaching assistant acts as conductor for a song about a recent school trip to Forest School, a local outdoors education centre. The students featured have an ASC (Autistic Spectrum Condition) and/or learning difficulties.
Claremont Students make their Bristol Debut!!
By pamvivuk - 11/07/2012Tuesday 22nd May 2012 was a very exciting day for 6 students from Claremont Secondary School in Bristol. They were to perform live on the stage in Millennium Square in Bristol for the Olympic Flame Celebration!!
These students all have some degree of physical difficulty and have been studying for a BTEC in performing Arts by using Accessible Music Adaptations provided by Drake Music. They had been practicing for many weeks after composing their own music. This is no mean feat and involves many forms of technical support for both the students and their helpers.
Ofsted SEN film case study: Whitefield Schools and Centre
By jonathanwestrup - 24/04/2012This 15 minute film is part of the five 'Best Practice' case studies made to accompany the 2012 Ofsted report into Music Education ('Music in schools: wider still, and wider')... Whitefield Schools and Centre in NE London is the largest special school in Europe with more than 300 pupils on roll with a wide range of Special Educational Needs. The film shows a range of musical activities catering for the varied musical interest and needs of the children who attend the school.
Disabling barriers to formal music education - consultation
By dougbott - 08/03/2012In Autumn 2011, DM Education carried out a nationwide consultation into disabling barriers to formal music education. The consultation findings are posted here in the 'Experiences' section of the DM Education web pages becuase they represent a signficant insight into the experiences of the SEN/Disabled young people / musicians, teachers and music educators who shared their views.
Worcester Snoezelen Centre and LCM Leisure Play music exams
By jonathanwestrup - 18/11/2011Like many I suspect, my first question about the small, Worcester-based charity ‘Snoezelen’ was ‘What does Snoezelen mean?’ The word - a mix of two dutch words for sniffing and dozing – perfectly evokes the experience offered by the charity: a multi-sensory environment for people with severe
Making the music curriculum more accessible in Gloucestershire Special Schools
By Alex Ivanovich - 19/09/2011In the summer term 2010, I was given the opportunity to visit every special school in Gloucestershire on behalf of Gloucestershire Music Service (GMS). I was tasked with assessing each school’s needs in terms of accessible music resources and training, in order to improve access to the music curriculum in each school. GMS also set aside Wider Opportunities funding to buy new instruments and music resources for each special school in the county.
Supporting a disabled undergraduate music student
By Filhill - 09/09/2011I recently assisted Ray De Grussa, a disabled student, with the first year of a Music and Creative Media degree course at Sheffield University. As a result of his achievements, Ray won the 2012 Adult Learners' Week 'Digital Participation Award' http://www.alw.org.uk/winners-stories/2012/by-award
Bradley Warwick and the Drake Music / OCNSWR 'Introduction To Music' course
By jonathanwestrup - 25/05/2011Like many teenagers his age, Bradley Warwick is passionate about music. In this sense he is unremarkable; however, in 2010 he became the first student to pilot Drake Music’s Introduction to Music course (accredited by OCNSWR - Open College Network South West Region), achieving a Level 1 pass for all four units. Bradley’s success is especially significant because he has Cerebral Palsy and uses an electronic VOCA (Voice Output Communication Aid) to speak.
Breaking the ‘glass ceiling’ to get a degree in music
By Mark Rowland - 25/05/2011I didn’t have the opportunity to gain accreditation in music at my special school, so it was 10 years before I finally got a place to study music at LIPA (Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts) in 2001. From LIPA I moved on to Chester College, from where I graduated in 2006 with a degree in Commercial Music Production. If my school had offered the opportunity to be accredited in music, it wouldn’t have taken more than 15 years to get my degree!
Here’s some background on my work with Drake Music, and my journey towards getting my degree.
Charlotte White - Bronze Arts Award
By dougbott - 25/05/2011In 2008 Charlotte White gained a Bronze Arts Award through working with Drake Music at St. Rose’s school, Stroud. While it was undoubtedly a really good thing to have her musical achievements accredited, a Bronze Arts Award was, quite honestly, a poor reflection of Charlotte’s actual academic and musical abilities. In the same academic year she achieved an A and three A-stars at GCSE in English Languge, Media, RE & Art - the latter achieved largely through mouth painting, and she is now (2011) at the University of Kent studying for a degree in Sociology and Criminology.