Through the morning lecture, we discussed the importance of music, and how it can have a positive impact on children. Hallam (2010) states that “extensive active engagement with music can induce cortical reorganisation”. Within the arts, children are able to get a better grasp of teamwork which is a vital skill as they grow up as this can improve social skills.

For the music aspect of the day, we were visited by Greenmill Primary School, who introduced us to their String Project. The pupils had been invited to play their instruments for us and then later teach us how to play. During the discussion with pupils at the start, they expressed their feelings towards the arts and how it impacted them in their everyday lives.

Through the String Project, pupils are given an opportunity to learn to play string instruments. As they usually start this at a very young age, this allows them to develop their skills effectively. This can encourage independence and enable them to enhance their listening skills.

Pupils were able to describe their instrument, name the parts and then explain how to hold them. This included correcting posture, listening intently and explaining clearly. These are crucial skills that can be used throughout life. Hallam (2010) also states that transferring these skills to everyday life is “automatic and contributes not only to language development but also literacy”. Once the basics were covered, we then moved onto the string names and notes. By the end of the lesson, we were all able to play a rendition of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”. This showed that the pupils from Greenmill Primary were successful in communicating instructions.