When does singing become learning?

T-Time Summer Term 2026

In this blog, we have signposted to relevant websites and resources to help you with your teaching. These can be seen by clicking on the red hyperlinks. For further signposting, contact info@musicmark.org.uk

T-Time is Music Mark’s termly networking and discussion space for classroom teachers to talk about music education. It is a different online space, facilitated by Music Mark’s School Manager Abi Marrison, where teachers are encouraged to debate, ask questions, and share their experiences. It isn’t CPD; this is where interesting exchanges take place, and why we publish a blog following each session to try to summarise some of the learning. 

T-Time was popular this term; was it the topic, the timing, or the speaker that resonated? Or perhaps a combination of those elements. We welcomed a Zoom room full of first-time attendees. T-Time is open to members and non-members and is designed for classroom teachers of any phase; however, the topic and speaker naturally draw in teachers from similar contexts. This session was of most interest to Primary teachers with varying levels of musical teaching experience. 

Reflections on ‘When does singing become learning?’ 

Singing is perhaps the most accessible form of musical learning and begins from an early age. Music Mark’s vision is: Accessible and excellent musical learning and engagement in and out of school, for all children and young people, which inspires and enriches their lives. (Read more about Music Mark’s vision, mission and values). We know that schools sing for many reasons: as part of collective worship in assemblies, as enrichment activity in extra-curricular clubs such as choirs, for performance, and as part of their fulfilment of the National Curriculum for Music. 

With this in mind, we posed the question ‘When does singing become learning’ to centre the discussion on ‘What are children learning when they sing?’ and ‘At what point does the learning start?’. We could have posed other questions, such as ‘what is the value of singing?’ or ‘what are the benefits of singing in school?’ which could have taken a different direction with recent publications such as Being Seen, Being Heard, Feeling Connected, (a think piece from Sing Up Foundation exploring singing and young people’s mental health and wellbeing).  

We could also have framed this by asking, ‘What is your musical intent?’ Including asking about repertoire decision making (the choice of music to suit the interest and ability of the learners), for every singing opportunity, both listening and singing, and what kind of musical progression will this create.   

What emerged was plenty of reflection on why we sing in schools and what ambitions we have for singing.   

Provocation from Young Voices 

Our provocation was delivered by Clare Edwards from Young Voices, amidst a whirlwind of travelling for Young Voices America. 

Clare introduced our session, saying: “I’m particularly evangelical about introducing children to music and singing in the most welcoming and psychologically safe way, to make it a lifelong habit without fear of being wrong or right.” […] “When does singing become musical learning? Well, it becomes musical learning the moment a child is given the tools to understand what they’re doing, not just the instruction of how to do it.” 

If you are a Music Mark member, you can watch the 9-minute video, read the full transcript, and join the conversation on the Padlet by logging in to your account and following this link to the resource section. 

 Some singing challenges 

 It is all down to me! 

• For one attendee (and I am sure there are many in this situation), they are the only teacher in the Primary school who champions singing. 

“I am the music lead because I love singing, but I have no musical qualifications. I don’t have the skills to challenge the students and help them grow. And there is no budget to improve this.” 

 Excellence vs Inclusion 

• Conversely, one attendee had the opposite experience: being taught themselves in primary school by a music specialist who told them they ‘could not sing’ and that they were no longer allowed to be included in the choir. 

“That feeling for me, being told at the age of 7 that I couldn’t sing and that I couldn’t be in the choir because I wasn’t ‘good enough, I think is destroying.” 

 Teacher Confidence 

• For many teachers in Primary schools, it is building confidence in their colleagues to lead singing.  

“We use our singing assemblies as an opportunity to bring children together. Music at our school is a subject where staff feel least confident. We’re looking to build that modelling ourselves.” 

Some suggestions 

Lead by example 

• Our attendees encouraged one another to adopt a passion for music teaching and learning, first and foremost. 

Training 

• Seek out free resources, as well as prioritising fundraising and budget conversations with senior leaders and governors about whole school development needs. There are great free resources available, but your school may need investment in CPD to support a culture change.  

Finding out what your local music service and music hub are doing to support schools is also a great place to start.  

FREE  

• Many schools have access to Charanga singing resources through their local music service/Music Hub. Contact your local music service to find out more
• Oak National Academy music: Key Stage 1 Key Stage 2 
• Royal Ballet and Opera Schools Sing Programme: launching Autumn 2026 sign up here for a free webinar. The RBO Create & Sing resources, including all the lesson plans, backing tracks, words and music) are freely available here. The six songs (each) from Magic Flute and Hansel & Gretel are most suitable for primary
• BBC Ten Pieces Attend the session on June 8th or visit the website
• ABRSM classroom 200 
• The National Centre for Music and the Arts is due to launch in September 2026, join our newsletters to be kept up to date about their training offer
• CanSing in Wales
• ISM’s Primary Singing Toolkit 

 Paid CPD & resources 

• ABRSM Voices
• Training | Sing Up Sing Up is not currently running any live training sessions, but you can watch video webinars of all our training topics for free by registering as a Sing Up friend
• Sing for Pleasure – training to lead singing
• RBO Create & Sing live CPD days Peterborough 10 June and Liverpool 11 June with Autumn dates to be released soon
• Sparkyard, from Out of the Ark, is an award-winning subscription-platform with both assembly and curriculum linked resources plus a fully-flexible music curriculum
• Hymnpact! is a subscription-based library of resources for schools and churches, providing hymns and songs that are appealing to children and adults alike 

ABRSM kindly sponsor T Time and the Music Mark of Recognition programme. 

2026/2027 T-Time sessions 

We are evaluating our T Time prior to programming for the new academic year. We welcome your feedback using this survey form.

Please note all underlined blue text are hyperlinks to relevant websites. For further signposting contact info@musicmark.org.uk