Chivenor Primary School sits right in the heart of the community of the Castle Vale estate in Birmingham. They are a welcoming, vibrant and diverse school with a culture of getting everyone involved – children, parents and the community – and Make Music Day is a perfect opportunity for them to do exactly that.

Performing Arts Lead Katy Clarke is putting together their Make Music Day event this year. “We’re really going to make a day of it”, she says. “Every year group will be doing something – singing, dancing, playing instruments… it’s up to them to decide how best to express themselves. And then the whole school will come together and sing ‘Thank You for the Music’.”

Chivenor Primary is surrounded on all sides by the Castle Vale estate, and the school as a whole really understands that building relationships with the community is important. Katy explains, “Make Music Day is fantastic for us. We’ve taken part before and had to stop because of the pandemic, but we’re definitely back now. We’re able to involve everyone, at every level, and give everyone a chance. We’ve got brilliantly talented kids here, and it’s great that they can have this opportunity to showcase their talents. And being so close to the community means that people can’t help but see and hear what we’re up to – people will just stop and listen. We’re all very excited to be taking part.”

Chivenor is one of a record number of schools taking part in Make Music Day this year. It is expected that more than 15,000 children from all parts of the UK will be making music. Make Music Day UK offers support to schools through online resources and a specially create Make Music Day Assembly pack.

For more information about schools and Make Music Day, click here.