Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub and Britten Pears Arts are thrilled to be able to offer Key Stage 2 and 3 settings across the United Kingdom the opportunity to engage in this year’s Friday Afternoons ‘5 Nations’ Sing-Along! Recorded at Britten Pears Arts at Snape Maltings.
You can find out more about Friday Afternoons here: www.brittenpearsarts.org/friday-afternoons
What you can expect:
- Free teaching and learning resources including a backing track, a demo performance track, lyrics sheet and scores for each song ready to use from your first week back to school in January.
- Top tips resource videos from our Music Leaders, Aga Serugo-Lugo and Emily Barden
- A video link to the 30-minute Friday Afternoons Sing-Along, accessible from Friday 6th February (or if that date doesn’t work in your school calendar you can access the link until the Easter holidays)
Info about new songs and composers
With the ambition to see Friday Afternoons resources being used and created further afield, Programme Manager Hattie Coupe set in motion a ‘Five Nations’ plan. The aim was to produce new Friday Afternoons songs with children across the UK and Republic of Ireland. She recruited three composers to work with schools in those nations: Raphael Clarkson, Jon Hargreaves, and Jessie Grimes.
Over the winter and spring of 2025, they have worked in schools, supporting the writing of five new songs:
- While Jessie was on tour in Ireland, we arranged for her to work with pupils at Lindsay Road National School in Dublin, producing a piece about St Patrick’s Day, and with pupils at St Malachys Primary School in Belfast to write a song about the Titanic.
- Raphael visited Windwhistle Primary School in Weston-super-Mare, where pupils wrote ‘Song of the Sea’, and Ysgol Pontffranc in Franksbridge, Wales, where they wrote ‘Our Cymru’, including lines in Welsh.
- Jon spent time with pupils in Culross Primary School in Dunfermline in Scotland. They produced the song, ‘The Witches, The Whale and The Blacksmith’s Tale’ based on local folklore!
FAQs
When can I access the Friday Afternoon ‘5 nations’ Sing-Along?
- This year’s performance will be available via private YouTube link (which will be sent to your educational setting), from Friday 5th February, for you to access until Friday 27th March.
Who is this suitable for?
- All students in Key Stage 2 or 3
What is the duration of the sing-along?
- 30 minutes
Do I need to do anything in advance of this performance?
- You can either just watch the performance or you can access the resources from the first week in January and sing-along with the recording of the live performance.
Is there a cost to be involved with this?
No, this is a free opportunity supported by Norfolk and Suffolk Music Hub and Britten Pears Arts
Key dates:
- Learning Resources will be available from Monday 5th January
- A link to view the Digital Concert will be sent to you 24 hours before the proposed Sing-Along Day on Friday 6th February (though you can access the concert until the Easter Holidays)!
Please note that resources will be hosted on www.brittenpearsarts.org/friday-afternoons
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