Award Nomination for Song Story!
We are delighted that our Song Story project has been shortlisted for a prestigious Music & Drama Education Award in the Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama ) category at the Music & Drama Education Awards 2027!
Jackdaws Song Story is a music project for SEND schools.
The groups create and perform a piece of music theatre based on well known composer & their works, involving lots of instruments, singing, movement & acting. Supported by a team of a composer, a multi instrument musician, a singer & an actor, who lead accessible workshops in schools including learners with a wide range of learning differences from ASD (Autism Spectrum) to PMLD (Profound, multiple learning disabilities).
Online resources are provided in advance so the groups can make a start and get excited. The team deliver the active part of the project through a range of workshops and by adding to the online resources for tailored practice in between sessions, as well as practice and further development in school. It culminates in a final performance for their community.
You can read more about it here.
This is an amazing achievement which really acknowledges our hard work and dedication in this area. Being shortlisted is something to be incredibly proud and we are very grateful to the panel of judges who chose us alongside the other wonderful nominees.
What is Song Story?
“I think Song Story is a moment in the year when the focus is purely on what the students can do, in an entirely inclusive environment. A ‘deficit model’ is often applied to people with learning disabilities, but we (Jackdaws) assume that all children are musical and that all are able to take part, with the responsibility for finding out how sitting with us.
“Students respond wholeheartedly, and often in an embodied and unfiltered way, as they listen and more importantly play the music of that year’s composer. Working with them and hearing and seeing their performances is a joy and a privilege.
“They are intrigued by the lives of the composers – the when, where and how they wrote – and will remind us of previous musicians and sing us bits of the music. While learning about Mozart this year, we would be regaled by Verdi’s Fields of Barley and the “da da da duuuum” of Beethoven’s fifth from the years before.
“All music is to be celebrated, and this is a chance to share our enthusiasm and expertise in classical music with students who are often more open minded than their adults.
–Kate Adams (MA Music in Development, Song Story team member)
Our projects are only possible because of the amazing support we receive from funders and private individuals.
If you would like to support our programme you can do so in a range of ways, we are very grateful for all of the support we receive.
We are indebted to these funders for making this project possible:
