How can I make a stand against the "chavvy" music at dd's school?

[fircone]

When ds was in the infants, the children sang a lot of songs and it sounded lovely. Now dd is there the music is on a downward spiral. They just sing along to (presumably teachers') old pop music tapes. At the last assembly the children mumbled dispiritedly to "Reach for the Sky" by SClub7, and at Christmas I ground my teeth as they half-heartedly muttered a bit of "Funky Town" (remember that one?!) and something by Annie Lennox. They came into the Christmas concert to "Fairytale of New York". You cheap lousy slut, anyone?

I'm not expecting a full production of "Nymphs and Shepherds" but this is getting ridiculous. It seems not just a shame but a failure not to encourage music.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can broach the subject? I am a governor, but I am not in the inner circle, and have to struggle to get my points raised. I need to put it diplomatically, rather than coming across as an outraged snob.

Fircone is right. Singing is important for children but murmuring Funky Town won't teach them anything about singing properly.

Our village primary teaches singing properly--not always classical, a lot of folk songs too. The children particularly enjoy singing WW2 songs.

'Autumn days when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell
Jetplanes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All these things we love so well '

My daughter's class sang this at primary school and loved it. She still sings it a year later.

I think we dumb down children's expectations in our fears of being elitist.

It will abra, it will teach the ones who hate the older style music that music has variety and we can all usually find something to our own tastes, it's just a matter of looking about

very about fairy tale of New York 9thou was Hmm at our school with the Christmas concert kids singing some of the lyrics to red dress as well), but overall I think variety and keeping it fresh is hugely important. Reach for the sky sn't a bad song for small children: not something on my playlist but immensely inoffensive generally.

This is doubly so for small boys- ds2 is a good little singer, and is in the Choir. however, as the only yr3-4 boy in the group, jhe is wanting to pull out and tbh anything that gets the boys singing is a good thing (within limits) IMO

they do know lots of hymns and Welsh songs as well, mind. You do need some of that too. DS1 did a great eprformance of HELP! at a talent show a few years back after learning it at school slao (came second to a kid who travelled from site to site eprforming 'proper' songs, not bad for an Aspie )

feenie setee, LOL! I guess the first one is no longer politically correct. Otterinaskoda you've made me remember something I had forgotton! Mind you I will say I don't think they play recorder like they used to. Our school's recorder group was top-class; they used to play 'the dance of the fairies' really well. And our music teacher could genuinely play the piano really well too.

2kidzandi - wasn't it "the ink is black"?

OurLady - yes, we did "Singing Together". My primary school years were 1974-80 - I don't know how many years it ran for. Did your class vote in the end-of-series poll ? You could usually tell which one would win. Announced by a chap with a Terribly Plummy Voice, as I recall.

I loved Singing Together. I particularly liked singing Santa Lucia. I remember one year a landslide victory by "Down from the hills of Brecon, flew a hungry heron, ...." can't remember the next bit, but it ended "boom boom boom boom apples I hit my head on" It was rubbish.

Anyone remember that schools history programme on the radio too? May have been presented by Geoffrey Wheeler. I remember leafing through the accompanying booklet for each new series to see what would be featured.

Only read the OP, but I do miss hearing All Things Bright And Beautiful, and There's A Worm At The Bottom Of The Garden. Lovely.

Why don't you take some nice tapes into school and enlighten them?

I love all those songs and they stay with you for life,cookeburra sings in the old gum tree!I loved Santa Lucia.I think singing is fantastic ,luckily all mine have learnt a mixture of classical ,traditional and modern ,alos it is fantastic excercise ,good for the lungs and also for teaching posture and breathing techniques

fircone - here is where I show far too much knowledge of "Singing Together." I remember "The Heron From Brecon" coming second to "Ching-a-ling-tonk-tonk", a song about a village pump...

Jamiacan Farewell...Linstead Market...they were in Singing Together.

I remember The Heron of Brecon but no Ching along whatsit. Also Fire Down Below (!).
When I had my first job at BBC Wales one of the producers was a lovely lady called Marie, pronounced Marry (sp?) who'd been one of the presenters on Singing Together.
I was too pathetically shy to say anything at the time.

Was she the one who had to sing "Now" at the start of each song?

UnquietDad There were several verses; firstly, 'the board is black, the chalk is white', then 'the ink is black, the page is white'.... it'd be flamed now...

I remember voting at the end of term for our favourite'Singing Together' songs and our class teacher telling us we couldn't vote for 'Bobbing Up and Down in a Little Red Wagon' because it was a silly song

Don't know what he'd have made of some of the modern offerings on here.

Yes, I do. He'd have been horrified!

The trouble in primary schools is that very few of them have any sort of trained musician in them. Very few teachers coming into the profession are able to play the piano, or lead singing confidently. Imagine standing up in front of 100+ children and 6 colleagues, singing loudly!

Music as a subject has been given lower and lower priority in schools for many years, and has only very recently begun to attract the interest of LEAs and the government.

As with almost any subject, unless appropriate training is given to key members of staff leading that subject, standards will fall still further.

Many schools cover curricular music by bringing in external specialists to deliver class music lessons during PPA time. However, the weekly whole school "singing assembly" is still often led by someone who has had their arm twisted to do it, and has almost no idea of how to encourage children to sing properly, and how to teach songs from a range of genres.

We have a teacher in our school who is a fantastic musician. He can play the guitar, banjo etc. and is very knowledgeable about music. However, he has absolutely no idea about how to help the children sing properly. He just encourages them to shout, which just means that they make a terrible noise and sing out of tune.

The basics of teaching singing are not difficult to learn, but teachers need to be trained in how to teach singing. Unfortunately, school budgets rarely stretch to releasing teachers to go on training for music, when the emphasis is still on literacy and numeracy.

Down from the hills of brecon
flew a hungry heron
Ona barrel he bumped his head
And he said
boom boom, boom boom
Barrels I've hit my head on

That song was so crap I sing it in the car on holidays now to annoy the family

There was a wee cooper who lived in Fife
Nickety nackety noo noo noo

blaydon races

Wasn't there one about botany bay? Historical and musical

fircone, I hope that you are still reading this thread. You have examples here of people who can vividly remember songs they sang twenty or thirty years ago, such was the impact of music at primary. You are right to be making a fuss about it.

yes, senus, but I am saying it was crap

I remember Waltzing Matilda from Singing Together.

Dare I say that it is probably due to the decline in church attendance that is having a knock on effect. All the (older) teachers (who lead the singing) at ds's school grew up in the church and have thousands of hours of experience in choirs. The other teacher who can lead singing is a clown (as a hobby, I'm not being insulting). And me and even though I'm a musician I'm really just copying what they do (and what I remember teachers doing at my school).

' very few of them have any sort of trained musician in them'

So true. And so sad.

'La cuckara-cha la cuckara-cha,
Whirling round and round we go,
La cuckara-cha la cuckara-cha,
Gayest dance in Mexico.

When they dance the cucuara-cha,
And I hear the music playing,
To the plaza then I hurry,
Join the dance without delaying..

(Join in if you know the chorus.)

Did someone have to dredge up the old copper who lived in Fife?

Katisha, she didn't sing 'now', she sang 'Sing!'

he was a cooper.