The Glasshouse

The Big Sing 2024 saw schools across the region delve into STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths with an added A for Arts by approaching it through music and song. We followed teacher Miss Townsend and her choir from Chester Le Street CE Primary School on their Big Sing Adventure, where they had oodles of fun and found a life-long love of music.

This blog is written by Miss Townsend.

I remember being in primary school, and my choir teacher, Mrs Miller, took us to the Big Sing at The Glasshouse. We’d spent weeks rehearsing the songs after school, and the day finally arrived. I remember excitedly singing the songs on the bus and walking into Sage One. It was amazing to see a live band and hear the voices of the other schoolchildren singing along. I remember my cheeks hurting from smiling all afternoon, and I’ll cherish my memories of the Big Sing as it helped me to realise my love for music.

Fast forward to today, and I am now a primary school teacher. As you can imagine, as soon as I saw the Big Sing was at The Glasshouse again, I knew I had to involve my school. The children in our choir matched my enthusiasm and showed excellent dedication to learning the songs for the big day.

As a teacher, I had a great time at The Glasshouse meeting the Big Sing team and other like-minded teachers to learn the material for the performance. It was helpful to get to know the songs together, and it built anticipation for the performance.

The Big Sing enabled the children to work together as an ensemble to perform the new songs. The songs sparked interesting questions about STEAM. The children couldn’t wait to visit The Glasshouse. It was an excellent opportunity to see musicians playing on stage and the parts that come together to put on a show in this wonderful venue.

I was so excited for the children to take part in the day. They have walked away with amazing memories, which, like me, they’ll treasure forever.