Pupils from six Cornish primary schools have been "Singing Up" as part of an exciting pilot project run by the Cornwall Music Service which culminated in a special concert at the Tremough campus in Penryn over the weekend.

The youngsters from Archbishop Benson Church of England Primary School, Bosvigo Primary School, Mabe Primary School, Constantine Primary School, St Petroc's Church of England VA School and St Mabyn Church of England Primary School were chosen to take part in the Sing UP scheme at the beginning of this year.

"Cornwall was one of two counties chosen by the Association of British Choral Directors (abcd) to pilot a project to put singing at the heart of primary schools" explained Angela Renshaw, from the Cornwall Music Service, who led the project.

"The aim of Sing UP scheme, which was launched by the Government last year, is to ensure that every primary school aged child has the opportunity to experience high quality singing as part of their everyday lives in the school, the home and the wider community.

The Sing UP scheme provides online resources, training for teachers and funding for singing programmes designed to promote singing both as a stand alone activity, as well as ensuring that singing is integrated into other subjects.

"Our project involved providing training and resources to help the six schools set up their own choirs " said Angela. "Each school was asked to identify a teacher or teaching assistant to lead the project in their school. These people had varying degrees of experience in choral leadership, and, for some this was their first opportunity to direct a choir".

The six schools received intensive support both from Angela, who provided special training and workshops, and from three nationally recognised choral experts from abcd - Jo McNally, Gillian Dibden and Amy Bebbington - who acted as course tutors for the project and led training days in the six schools. The schools also received funding to buy new material which they used during the course.

"The project has been incredibly successful "said Angela. "Of the six schools which took part, all but one set up a choir as a result of the scheme - with the 6th school already having a choir in place. One school also set up a Boys' Choir".

The Cornish course was assessed by an external assessor who visited the county twice and interviewed staff and Headteachers. Cornwall received a glowing report and Angela now hopes to provide further training for teachers to enable the scheme to be developed further.

The concert at Tremough as the grand finale of the pilot project. The teachers from the individual schools chose two pieces they had taught on the pilot scheme for their youngsters to perform and then all the schools joined together to form a mass choir of more than 120 pupils. The combined choir, which was directed by Angela Renshaw, performed two pieces for the appreciative and enthusiastic audience.