28/01/2010
In 2007, the Government committed to an investment of £40m in a National Singing Programme, in direct response to Music Manifesto Report No.2. The report highlighted a 'lost generation' of confident singing leaders in schools, patchy provision, but some world-class practice, which, if allowed to flourish, could carpet our nation with widespread, everyday singing in primary schools - all primary schools could, and should, become Singing Schools.
Three years on, and with one year of the current term of funding remaining, Sing Up has made an enormous impact upon the culture of singing in primary schools. Using its model of deploying and developing an existing expert national workforce, and wielding its four main strands (Campaign, Resource, Workforce Development and Funded Programmes), it has created a stable platform for singing in primary schools which will have a legacy well beyond 2011.
Nevertheless, we believe that to 'close down' Sing Up in March 2011 would be catastrophic for primary singing, and that Sing Up's powerful model of partnerships has potential to feed into wider music provision. So six months of careful assessment and planning has brought the Sing Up Consortium and its wider partners to a number of conclusions and intentions for the future - our State of the Union.