Local students soar to success in national ‘Singup’
Singup is a national programme designed to encourage confidence, health and social development through singing and music.
Following Coquet High School’s involvement with the Singup at Alnwick Garden earlier in the summer, they were invited by the project’s funders, ContinuYou, to become one of only five school clusters to take part in an International Singup Project which is being backed by the Olympic Committee, Singup Organisation, Youth Music and the British Council.
Coquet High cluster invited Amble and Druridge Bay Middle schools, Berwick Middle School, and Amble, Warkworth and Broomhill first schools to join in. A total of 272 students were involved.
Staff travelled to London earlier in the term for introductory workshops and to be partnered with another country. Coquet cluster was joined with the Shurer Dhara Music School in Dhaka Bangladesh.
Three visitors from Bangladesh arrived in London on November 8th and travelled to the North East on November 10th for a three day visit. During their short visit they took part in a series of workshops with all students between Berwick and Amble, with the aim of sharing musical heritage and knowledge across the continents and to gain an insight into the people and countryside.
On November 22nd Coquet cluster took part in a ‘show and tell’ performing workshop, demonstrating their experiences, increased knowledge and understanding of music from other cultures. Although it would have been wonderful to take all 272 students, logistically this proved impossible and so a selection of 25 students from all schools took part.
At the end of March Alnwick Playhouse will host the next Singup event, when the students will perform and share their experiences. Next year the Coquet cluster will begin fundraising to plan a return visit to Bangladesh to cement the partnership.
Mrs Sam Lord, Coquet High’s Head of Music is working hard with the support of staff from all schools to ensure the students benefit from this wonderful opportunity.
“We are planning to show out visitors the beauty of the North East coast and share our music and local heritage” she said. “This is such an exciting project for everyone involved. It is a real privilege to have been asked to take part and showcase the talent we have in our local schools.”
