12 Great Reasons to Renew Your ABC Subscription

1.  More Creativity in your teaching means more engagement from your children, improving all their learning outcomes.

There is mounting research evidence that creative activity produces increased engagement in children which drives improved learning and outcome across the curriculum- not just in creativity skills. And some of this evidence is being produced by ABC Music.

A recent study by Prof Gianna Cassidy of Glasgow Caledonia University on the use of ABC resources with P1, P4 and P6-7 classes showed these results...

A 2021 pilot in the Western Isles showed creativity-led engagement producing great outcomes in both creative and non-creative learning.

Here is a quote from project leader, Gavin Woods (Chair Western Isles IMT network)…

I recently had the good fortune to be asked to deliver an eight-week pilot of the ABC Creative Music course to P5 classes in the Western Isles.   A large part of the course is delivered using a software programme ideally from a whiteboard.  The software proved invaluable and simple to use, not only illuminating the concepts I was delivering, but also making them easier to explain and fun to participate in.  The course also utilised creativity and role play to engage pupils in real musical activity and as a result students learned from doing rather than just listening.  Perhaps the most impressive technique was using shapes to introduce rhythm.  The effectiveness of this method led to an entire P5 class correctly notating a series of random rhythms clapped by myself from the front of the class and being able to read and play a piece for chime bars from a musical score.  The results, even after just 8 weeks were quite amazing and, the kids, class teacher and I loved it!!!!!

A small 6-week study of children from disadvantaged backgrounds using ABC Numeracy Through Music Programme showed a 13% increase in numeracy attainment and doubling of engagement scores- demonstrating accurate targeting of iterative learning tasks required in literacy and numeracy, a completely new and engaging learning paradigm children, multi-sensory processing creates richer learning, the ability to adjust processing times maintains challenge levels as skills develop, and the whole raises attainment in children, especially those from deprived backgrounds.

More research between ABC and GCU is planned  to help make the case that, when properly understood, creativity is a key element in producing a modern curriculum that helps all children. 

2. creative social music-making helps restore health and well-being AFTER the pandemic.

It is well-recognised that social music-making, especially that involving creativity, produces a feeling of connection and well-being, vital to help children recover from the effects of lockdown and very welcome for us adults too! ABC Resources are great at improving social connection, mental health and well-being, and children really love creative music-making with instruments.

There are loads of Covid-safe options- with advice on each music activity to fit with 4 covid restrictions, a home learning module so you can set and track assignments during lockdown or for children who are self-isolating, and if you are worried about sterilising instruments you can use the Numeracy through Body Percussion course or make a Tin-Can Drum Kit for each child.

Go here for more info.

3. ABC Creative Music has huge cross-curricular reach- so you can teach Literacy, Numeracy, Gaelic, French and Spanish with fun musical activities.

As well as creativity, communication, listening and team-working skills, improvements in health and well-being and personal and social development, ABC Resources offer exciting programmes to foster learning across an ever-expanding range of the curriculum- all using fun musical and creative activities. Hitting your musical outcomes while teaching other curricular areas is a big WIn-Win in a busy timetable.

You can teach French and Spanish vocab using courses designed for both Lower and Upper Primary children, covering topics such as saying your name, parts of the body, saying hello and goodbye, numbers, weather, animals etc.

You might use the Gaelic translations of our P1-3 progressive year courses, or explore the Burns or Scot's Language resources.

Our 'Numeracy Through Body Percussion' course provides a range of fun musical and creative activities that teach number concepts, counting-on and all the times-tables, with courses for Lower and Upper Primary children. This course was developed for busy teachers during lockdown, and avoids the need to get out and sanitise instruments, and is so easy to teach as it's all led from videos.

Go here for more info.

Our 'Literacy Through Music' course is coded for Jolly Phonics, Active Literacy and Read Write Inc, with multi-sensory literacy learning linked to social or individual music-making with classroom instruments or on tablets and PCs with headphones. You can target individual phonemes with relevant word lists and images, and differentiate effectively in mixed-ability classes (aren't they all..?), allowing individual groups to work within a single class activity on phonemes from different levels; Other topics targeted include Split Digraphs/Magic-E and compound words. Because you can vary the musical and literacy challenge separately, gradually reduce processing time and increase task complexity, and move between class activities and individual study in school or at home, you can keep activities interesting for a wide range of children over the lengthy learning pathways required for literacy development. This provides a genuinely complementary but alternative approach for all children, especially valuable for those struggling with the main phonics schemes.

Go here for more info.

Our 'Numeracy Through Music' course allows you to focus fun multi-sensory music-based learning experiences on:

specific number concepts, specific parts of the number line in forward and reverse directions, including crossing decades,

a wide range of numeracy symbols including numerals, fingers, numicons, ten-frames, money, bundles of sticks and the 12 and 24-hour clock.

You can target specific arithmetic skills following the SEAL (Sequence of Early Arithmetic Learning) eg number before and after, simple addition, remainder after division.

You can specify number ranges from 0-10 up to 100, use different numeracy symbols and children learn to perform larger numbers with different sounds for tens and units.

You can move from individual to group activity, allowing you to tailor the challenge and support for each child, differentiate across wide ranges of ability levels but keep everyone involved in a single class activity. And if the class gets enough correct answers, they win a fun jam session with alien musicians.

Go here for more info.

4. ABC’s Online CPDs are highly-rated, welcoming and fit your busy lives.

ABC’s Online CPD Programme offers every topic on a variety of days and dates at both 11am and 3.45pm, to make it easier for you to fit sessions into your busy schedules- and over 95% of trainees rated the training as ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ effective.

Here are some user testimonies...

“The variety of resources that were shared was excellent. Ideas for using the resources in different ways we’re provided. Relaxed feel about the CPD.”

“Presenter was welcoming, down to earth. Engaged with us. Encouraged us to chat and participate. Tried to adapt to our particular needs and tailor the content for us. “

“Very personalised, explained well, right mix of information and interactivity”

“5 stars: I liked that it was interactive and easy to follow, providing lots of ideas easily used within the classroom or outside.”

Dates for the Autumn 2022 Online CPD programme will be published soon!

5. Creativity can be scary- ABC activity design makes authentic creativity safe for you to lead and for your children to experience.

The founders of ABC music are Jazz musicians with a deep interest in providing genuine creative experiences for all children. Not the box-ticking exercises that look a little bit like creativity- we are interested in the real thing. But we know the real thing can be scary for children and teachers alike. In fact we have written a paper on the ‘Emotional Challenge of Creativity’ to explain why. Go here for further information and for a link to the main paper.

As a result of all this thinking, we have developed a unique approach to designing creative activities to make them safe and supportive for non-specialist class teachers and children alike.

This approach underpins the design of all ABC music resources- making creativity accessible for all children and all teachers, not least non-specialists who feel unconfident about teaching music. If that describes you, you can teach these resources!

6. ABC gives you & your school fantastic value-for-money.

ABC Creative Music costs between 74p and  £2.50 per child per year for medium-sized schools, and it can be less per-child for larger schools. This compares very favourably to the cost of Mathletics or Sumdog (£5-£15 pounds per child per year). 

'But Mathletics and Sumdog teach core subjects like numeracy?' I hear you say!

Well so does ABC Music- with its unique and innovative Literacy and Numeracy through Music Courses, as well as French and Spanish Through Music, and of course it’s progressive creative music programmes.

7. Because it’s ABC, the music playing in your classroom sounds beautiful.

Because ABC is led by top Jazz and Folk musicians, all the music is composed, played and sung by the best musicians in Scotland so it sounds really beautiful. Why should Primary school music sound simplistic with tinny synthesiser sounds.

8. ABC resources give everything you need to teach- designed for busy non-specialist class teachers.

Everything you need to teach comes straight into your smartboard- audio files handouts, on-screen interactives, downloadable planning documents. We can offer advice on what percussion instruments your school needs.

9. ABC Music means cutting-edge approaches to assessment.

ABC Online has traffic light and text assessment, which is storeable and printable for individual children and as a whole class. The Home Learning module allows children to upload audio and video and self-assess using emoticons and text. And ABC is about to roll out it’s video assessment module- where teachers and classes can video performances before and after rehearsals, and assess their improvement inter own words, and compare their performances to benchmark videos.  

For more challenging situations, we have an innovative 8-Dimensional Framework for Individual Assessment and Intervention- designed for ASN/SEND but applicable across all settings. Go here to download detailed information.

10. ABC Creative Music resources are designed and made in Scotland.

ABC Creative Music is the only Primary Music resource created in Scotland for Scottish children and Scottish Teachers.

11. ABC world-class composition software helps all children in your class create music they know sounds beautiful.

Creative Music’s unique Create With Pitch programme helps all children create really beautiful music- listen to some funky tunes create by Pencaitland P6 students here- and these courses can now be led remotely by ABC staff. Go here for more info on Create With Pitch.

12. ABC takes the stress out of instrument and classroom management.

Really clear lesson plans take you step-by-step through how to lay out the class for each activity, and the instructions can be read out like a script, by you or in Middle or Upper primary by one of the children, so you can work out together how to follow the activity. You can be more of a guide and facilitator that learns along with the class.

ABC’s unique approach to instrument management takes all the stress out of using classroom instruments for non-specialists. Handouts or videos guide you in choosing which instruments you need for each group in each activity, and anything complex is taught through a video you can show to your class.

And the new ABC virtual instrument app for smartphones and Tablets allows children to play untuned and tuned percussion on touchscreens at home or in the classroom.

ABC Resources flow from Early Years, to Primary and ASN/SEND

ABC Music has integrated resources, flowing from it’s award -winning Early Years Musiclaity reources for 3-6 year olds, through the whole of Primary, so Head Tachers can provide fantastic comtinuity of cross-curricular resources grounded in an innovative creative approach from nursery to P7, to give children in their care the best possible start to their educational journey. And ABC has a range of great resources and training programmes for ASN/SEND settings too.

Go here to renew your subscription.