As the Christmas season approaches, schools across the country are buzzing with preparations for carol services, nativity plays, and festive performances. For children, this time of year often means extended vocal use—not just in school but also during family gatherings and community events. Combined with winter illnesses and cold weather, these activities can put a strain on young voices. This made me reflect on the importance of teaching good vocal health, especially as someone who has personally experienced the damaging effects of a vocal injury. 

At Mayflower Community Academy, we place a strong emphasis on vocal health as part of our music education. This isn’t just about producing better singers; it’s about teaching children to care for a vital tool they’ll use throughout their lives. From their very first music lessons in our foundation classes, we introduce our students to practices that prioritise vocal care. 

There’s a common misconception that musicians, performers, and artists enjoy watching or listening to their own performances. After all, they spend years honing their craft and putting it out into the world for others to experience. But the truth is, many artists find revisiting their work uncomfortable, even unsettling. Elton John famously admitted that he dislikes listening to his old songs or watching past performances. When he does, he often finds himself critiquing the tiniest details, wishing he had done things differently. This type of self-criticism is often rooted in perfectionism, and while it can lead to moments of self-doubt, it can also serve as a powerful tool for artistic growth when used constructively.

For musicians, getting beyond the initial discomfort of watching themselves perform can open the door to self-improvement and refinement. Yes, it requires pushing past self-doubt and facing one’s anxieties head-on. But in doing so, artists gain the opportunity to identify areas for improvement, refine their technique, and ultimately create better work in the future. Self-reflection, when practiced with kindness and intention, becomes an invaluable part of the creative process.

During our most recent year 6 leavers assembly rehearsal, I watched something pretty amazing unfold. Every student - whether they were naturally confident singers or a bit hesitant - was singing with real joy and assurance. That wasn’t always the case. I’ve had plenty of conversations with colleagues from other schools who tell me things like, "I can’t get my boys to sing," or "Year 6s just won’t sing - they refuse!" But we’ve managed to flip that script at our school. Now, we’ve got a culture of singing that turns even the most reluctant students into enthusiastic singers. How did we get here? It all started by making singing an essential part of everyday school life, right from the moment students walk through the doors. It’s something we’ve woven into the fabric of not just our school, but our wider community too.

This year, the Year 6 Leavers Assembly took on a new twist, yet it retained its timeless magic and charm. One of the highlights of the event was the much-anticipated year group song performance by the Year 6 students. Over the past few weeks, we had been meticulously working on an arrangement of Pink’s "Cover Me in Sunshine." As a cohort, we unanimously agreed that this song perfectly encapsulated the joyous spirit of the children. Its familiarity also made it accessible to those less confident in their singing abilities.

At Mayflower Community Academy, we're committed to nurturing the musical talents and interests of our students. To ensure our music curriculum is as engaging and diverse as possible, we recently convened a meeting with our Academy Music Council. This group of passionate students has been selected to help shape the future of our musical learning.

Here's what we discovered:

At the culmination of each unit in our Kodály music curriculum, our students engage in a simple Orff arrangement of a piece they’ve been studying. This practice has become a cornerstone of our teaching approach, yielding remarkable educational and developmental benefits.

Orff arrangements are musical pieces structured for performance using the Orff Schulwerk approach, an innovative method of music education developed by composer Carl Orff and his collaborator Gunild Keetman. These arrangements typically involve a variety of percussion instruments, such as glockenspiels, drums, and other pitched and unpitched percussion instruments. The key feature of Orff arrangements is their simplicity and accessibility. Designed with children and beginners in mind, they often feature straightforward, repetitive patterns that are easy to learn and play, making them ideal for young musicians.