Earlier this year, the headteacher of the Bleasby C of E Primary School asked the Southwell U3A Folk Music Group if we could visit the school and play some folk songs for the children. The activity was planned to be a part of the Arts Week that they arrange to enable the children to experience a wider range of arts than can be included in the normal teaching programmes. Bleasby Primary School is a small school of 100 pupils including the reception class, and has very limited in house music teaching resources. The particular challenge given to us was to get the boys to join in and sing.
We decided that we would perform four songs for them, and then break into small workshops, so the children could handle the instruments and ask us questions. The song sheets were provided to the school in advance so the children could learn the choruses. The Buzzard Song was one of the four songs, and the school used the DVD recording that we provided for their rehearsals. (For readers who do not know this song, it can be listened to and viewed using the link on the Folk Group webpage). The headteacher told me afterwards that she had used the DVD to talk about birds of prey, and was surprised to find that many of the children could already identify buzzards, kestrels, ospreys, and white tailed eagles.
We started the session by singing Leaving of Liverpool, and it was clearthat the boys were not going to sing,displaying crossed arms and boredlooks staring straight ahead of themselves. Fortunately the secondsong was the Seekers Song, Morningtown Ride, for which we changed tactics and decided to rehearse the chorus until everyone was singing. After three or four goes, the audience participation had improved considerably, and we were off, with loud whistles blowing, full steam ahead.
After some spirited singing of the Buzzard Song chorus, we were on to the final song, Fisherman’s Friends, Union of Different Kinds. The children had already really latched on to this song from their rehearsals, and after the distribution of two dozen kazoos, some tambourines and some rattles, the results were truly wonderful to hear, so we played the song a second time.
Ten members of the Folk Group took part, bringing and demonstrating multiple instruments including guitars, ukuleles, flute, accordion, melodeon, mouth organ, recorders, banjo etc.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable session, perhaps best summed up by a boy who put his hand up in front of the whole school during a brief questions and answer session and said “Thank you for coming, and when can you please come back?”.
Success!!
Group Leader Kenneth Ogilvie
Please check out the Group Site
