We have an exciting and inspiring Hub Menu for schools and education settings.
Get in touch to hear about music opportunities for the children and young people you teach via our mailing list or use the buttons below to download a pdf of activities for your region.
Weekly & termly interactive digital content and one-off projects to support music-making in schools. Sign up for our weekly mailing list for the following resources and content throughout the year
Reclaiming Narratives Black History Month KS2 & KS3 song & curriculum resource SEPT/OCT 2024
Following on from Saluting Our Sister last year we will be re-commissioning local producer Sara Bless and artist Shannon B to write a new song for black history month. This track will be in the songbank alongside a sign & sing video and a curriculum resource for writing a rap for the verses of the song around this year’s theme of Reclaiming Narratives. Song bank
An Audience With… KS2, KS3, KS4 & KS5 now available via THIS webpage
Throughout the year we will be creating bitesize videos linked to our projects in which students can submit questions to ask music industry professionals and find out more about the varied careers and experiences of those working in the field. Our aim is to provide you with content to meet the aims of the National Plan for Music Education around roles in the music industry. These will be available and shared via the music hub YouTube channel regularly. Please be aware that the first set of videos and content are now up on the website linked above. Alongside this we will be writing an assembly resource to go with this for use in KS1 & KS2 whole school or phase assemblies.
10 Minute Sign & Sing and 5 Minute Rhythm & Rhyme EYFS, KS1, KS2, KS3, SEND Songbank OR YouTube
In 5 Minute Rhythm & Rhyme you will learn Makaton signs and body percussion for a suitable song for EYFS, KS1 and SEND pupils. You can use these as brain breaks any time during the day or as a starting point for learning a song to perform with your class. 10 Minute Sign & Sing will bring you fresh repertoire to learn to sign or sing or both on a fortnightly basis. Weekly digital content for this will continue production throughout the year alternating between each project.
Vocal & Curriculum newsletter ALL PHASES
Half termly round ups of our digital resources from the archives linked to themes throughout the year are downloadable from our website HERE
SIOW Music will be collaborating with Sound Pop Academy to produce a digital songbook transcribing their brilliant 3 part harmony flexible arrangements of pop songs to share with secondary schools and sixth forms. The music hub and Sound Pop Academy will run a CPD session to introduce the songs and arrangements and support singing across the Key Stages including a limited number of live workshops in schools.
As part of this programme, you will be offered a free log in to the Vocal Kit online platform to continue using the resources following your workshop with backing tracks and a progression framework for vocal learning.
This project will run from Autumn 2 and through the Spring term.
Schools choirs and music groups are invited to Osborne House on Monday 25th November for a carousel of Christmas activities! You will have the opportunity to perform in the Durbar Room, have a tour of the ground floor of the house and take part in some Victorian Christmas craft activities. If take up is high we will also offer the opportunity for schools to take part the following week on 2nd December.
Your performances could include the new music hub Christmas songs from our songbook which we will learn in the workshop, something you have prepared for Christmas concerts or anything you have been working on this term - all are welcome! We will not have a full band or sound set up sadly due to the delicate nature of the Durbar Room but we will be able to play backing tracks. You are welcome to bring your own equipment too.
Our proposed timings would be as follows:
9.15am - 9.30am Arrive / parents drop off gather school groups in the car park
9.30am - 9.45am Move to first workshop space
9.45am - 10.30am Workshop 1 / tour
10.30am - 10.45am change over/break
10.45am - 11.30am Workshop 2 / tour
11.30am - 11.45am change over/break
11.45am - 12.30pm Workshop 3 / tour
12.30pm - 1.15pm Lunch break (bring packed lunch)
1.15pm - 1.30pm schools to Durbar Room
1.30pm - 2.15pm Performance in the Durbar Room
2.15pm Finish and schools leave and/or children are collected from the car park by parents
Please register your interest to take part in our Christmas Celebration and Southampton Guildhall on Thursday 5th December 2024! This is suitable for KS1 & KS2 pupils either your choir or a class from your setting. This event is now fully booked but if you would like to be put on a reserve list, please email lynn.beckwith@southampton.gov.uk
Details:
Jo Downs is writing a new Christmas songbook and narrative script for this event loosely based on the nativity story with three original songs for KS1 and three original songs for KS2 spanning a variety of styles and genres! Schools will also be offered the opportunity to perform as a solo group outside of the massed singing or participate in the narrative sections but this is very much voluntary. On the day we will also be joined by Southampton Youth Wind Band for the concert.
Schools will be offered workshops to introduce the songbook and digital resources to support you with learning them in advance of the concert. Resources will be ready by the end of September/beginning of October. Timings on the day are still tbc but we will be in touch with everyone to finalise this with your input.
Spaces will be limited to up to 150 KS1 and up to 150 KS2 students for the event in total, which will be allocated on a first come first served basis with an initial limit of around 30 pupils from your school for each half of the concert but we may be able to offer more spaces depending on sign up though so this is not set in stone.
Please indicate on the form how many you would like to bring or use the form to explain this and we will contact you to confirm what's possible. Any questions please email nia@siowmusic.org but if in doubt fill in the form and we will get back to you with questions if anything doesn't make sense.
We are looking for a KS2 and/or KS3/4 school choir of upper voices to take part in a concert at the Turner Sims Concert Hall with the University of Southampton voices on Friday 6th December.
This programme is called The Bells of Paradise and features arrangements of some well known traditional (and some less traditional!) carols along with an adult choir and professional musicians. The hub would work intensively with your choir to learn the 6 songs in the programme which would feature your choir or class.
This concert would be a chance to perform with professional musicians led by Harvey Brough and we have run this lovely project with the University before with great success. Please email me directly nia@siowmusic.org if this is of interest to you.
After the success of our recorder extravaganza at St Catherine’s Church in Ventnor last year as part of Fairest Isle Festival we will be continuing the tradition this year! Although the festival is not taking place again until 2026 the festival organisers were keen to continue the legacy of this year’s project via the commissioning of a new recorder songbook written by island-native Miriam Monaghan from recorder super-group Palisander. The music hub will host these digital resources, provide CPD for schools and workshops to introduce the materials and during next term select a venue and date for performance in the spring term. If your school would like to host this event please do get in touch. Please register your interest below.
Join us on 23 January 2025, at the iconic Portsmouth Guildhall for an inspiring day of exploration and collaboration at our Music Education Conference. This year's theme, Innovation: Driving Music Forward, invites educators and music practitioners to engage in meaningful discussion and, explore new innovative ideas and transformative practices that are shaping the future of music education. Strands of sessions across the day will be suitable for EYFS, KS1, KS2, KS3 and KS4 along with specialist sessions on vocal, curriculum and SEND. You can explore the sessions and book via the website southcoastmusic.org/conference2025
Our dynamic line-up of presenters and workshop leaders, drawn from across the music education sector, will provide invaluable insights and hands-on experiences designed to ignite creativity and enhance your teaching practice. Whether you're a seasoned music educator or just starting out, this conference is an opportunity to connect with like-minded professionals, share innovative strategies, and explore new approaches to fostering musical talent in the classroom. Don't miss this chance to be part of a vibrant community dedicated to advancing music education. Together, we can drive music forward!
Tickets are £90 with lunch included or £50 for students - schools will be invoiced for your attendance after booking so please have the details of your finance contacts when completing the booking form.
We are continuing our collaboration with The New Carnival Company to create and write with young people a new anthem to perform at Mardi Gras linked to their theme for this year.
Schools signed up will receive a free songwriting and singing workshop from the hub in the summer term to help write the song and learn to sing it before the parade heads off on the day in July 2025!
Time to catch up with other music coordinators and teachers, featuring discussion groups set by you and important national updates from the Music Hub from OFSTED, Music Mark and about School Music Development Plans and the National Plan for Music Education and reflect on areas of need and how to address them.
Sessions will take place online via Teams in twilight sessions from 4pm - 5pm Please sign up using the button below and you will be send a meeting link nearer the time.
Time to catch up with other music coordinators and teachers, featuring discussion groups set by you and important national updates from the Music Hub from OFSTED, Music Mark and about School Music Development Plans and the National Plan for Music Education and reflect on areas of need and how to address them.
Sessions will take place online via Teams in twilight sessions from 4pm - 5pm Please sign up using the button below and you will be send a meeting link nearer the time.
Join us again for our junior prom event on the bowling green at Carisbrooke Castle! Bring your students along for an opportunity to perform on the green with fantastic visibility for parents, friends and families to come along and watch on the raised areas around the green and bring a picnic. This year this event will be solely focused on singing and our theme in 2025 will focus on local stories, myths & legends and the environment.
Schools and young people will be consulted to suggest a song to include in an our official ‘songbook’ for the concert. This songbook will be produced by the music hub and workshops will also be available to support this. As always we will run a site visit and meeting prior to the event to discuss logistics with teachers which will take place on Thursday 1st May 2025 from 4pm - 5pm at the castle. In the case of inclement weather our reserve date is Tuesday 17th June 2025.
4pm - 4.30pm School ensembles/groups arrive
4.30pm - 5pm Sound checks
5.30pm - 7pm Concert
Time to catch up with other music coordinators and teachers, featuring discussion groups set by you and important national updates from the Music Hub from OFSTED, Music Mark and about School Music Development Plans and the National Plan for Music Education and reflect on areas of need and how to address them.
Sessions will take place online via Teams in twilight sessions from 4pm - 5pm Please sign up using the button below and you will be send a meeting link nearer the time.
