In todays lecture, the concept of creative partnerships was explored. Creative partnerships aim to improve the facilities within the education system for the arts and bring together a variety of talents. It also aims to upskill teachers and ensure children are getting the stimulating and enjoyable inputs into the arts.
Creative partnerships in schools involve such people as :
- Teachers
- Classroom assistants
- Office workers
- Visiting specialists
- Parents
Within the wider community, this also includes :
- Arts development officers
- Numeracy officers
- Literacy officers
- Attainment challenge officers
- Health and wellbeing officers
- STEM
- GIRFEC managers
These partnerships work to enrich a child’s life, by developing skills and creating relationships, both with staff and other children and with the wider community.
In our music input we explored Figurenotes. Figurenotes is technique which aims to simplify the first steps in learning to read sheet music. Each note is matched with a coloured symbol. Stickers with these coloured symbols are placed on instruments to help learners to play what they see.
Here is an example of a Figurenotes sheet :
FigureNotes is a three stage process, with the end goal being the children having the ability to read conventional notation. Here are the 3 stages :
- Figurenotes notation
- Figurenotes on the stave
- Coloured notes. (When the individual is ready to progress the colours can be taken away)
(Drake Music Scotland, 2019)
This approach works with all ages and aims to eliminate the pressures of reading sheet music in the early stages. It enables all learners to develop their abilities within music, without the pressure. This is something I find extremely helpful as I struggle with reading sheet music and this has made it so much easier for me to develop my knowledge of doing so.
In the dance workshop, Scottish music was explored. This was done through creating a dance to a Scottish Landmark. Our group was given the Edinburgh Castle. This dance move showed the cannons going off at the castle. Here are some pictures of my peer groups dance planning :
We also explored games which would be great to use within the classroom environment. These include such things as :
- Splat – We all moved around the room in a way the teacher directed (such as skip and run). The teacher would then shout Splat on the… and we would splat on that surface.
- People to people – This game started in pairs, you joined a body part to the other person. For example elbow to elbow. When people to people was shouted, you joined with another group.
- The bean game – There is different beans, runner bean (Jog on the spot), jelly bean (wiggle body), baked bean (lie on the floor and sunbathe) and Mexican bean (the full class did the mexican wave.
These are some experiences and outcomes covered in todays dance input :
- I enjoy creating short dance sequences, using travel, turn, jump, gesture, pause and fall, within safe practice. EXA 1-08a
- I have created and taken part in dance from a range of styles and cultures. EXA 3-08a
- I am becoming aware of different features of dance and can practise and perform steps, formations and short dance. EXA 1-10a
(Scottish Government, 2008)
Overall, I look forward to using all of the methods I have learned in my future classroom. I will continue to look into Figurenotes to develop my ability to read music and I look forward to continuing to dance in workshops.
References
- Drake Music Scotland, (2019). Figurenotes. [Online] Available at: https://drakemusicscotland.org/figurenotes/ [Accessed 19/11/19]
- Scottish Government. (2008). Expressive Arts Experiences and Outcomes [online] available : https://education.gov.scot/documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [accessed 19/11/19]
