General

Workshops On Hold

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Over the last few months, we’ve started to let you know about some exciting changes to Learn2soar Music. Unfortunately, this month we’re having to break some slightly sad news. As a company we have decided to place our music workshops on hold for the foreseeable future.

Why are your music workshops on hold?
workshops on hold
workshops on hold

The main reason we are suspending this service is that currently there appears to be very little demand for our school workshops, due to school budgets being slashed over the last decade.

When we started providing workshops in 2003, we were delivering up to 100 events a year. But from around 2009 onwards we saw a steady decline. It has reached the point where we’re now receiving just two or three booking requests a year. Therefore, it’s no longer financially viable to keep them going. (more…)

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Seasons Greetings from Learn2soar Music

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Season’s Greetings from all at Learn2soar Music.

Seasons Greetings
Seasons Greetings

As we’re heading towards the Christmas holidays, we wanted to take the time to thank all our loyal customers for yet another fantastic year. We hope that all your Christmas musicals and Nativity plays have gone without a hitch. If you have a spare few minutes, we’d be grateful to hear any feedback, reviews, comments or ideas that you have to offer. (more…)

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C-H-R... Spells Christmas... Spells Success!

C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Spells Christmas – Spells Success

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Last month we looked at our all-time number one best-selling item: ‘Our First Nativity‘. But what’s number 2 and number 3 on the list? The answer to both questions is ‘C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Spells Christmas’.

Number two on the list is C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Spells Christmas for Infants (ages 3 to 7). Then at number three it’s C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Spells Christmas for Juniors (ages 7 to 11+).

C-H-R… Spells Christmas – Infant Version
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Spells Christmas For INFANTS Nativity Play
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S Spells Christmas For INFANTS Nativity Play

The Infant version was one of Learn2soar Music’s first publications, written in 2003. From then, until 2011’s ‘Our First Nativity’ was published, it was consistently our best-selling item. In a similar way to ‘Our First Nativity’, the genius of ‘C-H-R… Spells Christmas’ is in its utter simplicity. The performance consists of little more than nine different, simple, catchy songs, for the nine letters that spell the word ‘Christmas’, that all come together to tell the biblical Nativity story. (more…)

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Best Selling Nativity Play – Our First Nativity

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In the run up to Christmas we’re going to use our monthly blog posts to take a look at our best-selling Nativities. We’re starting with our best-selling nativity: ‘Our First Nativity‘.

Published in 2011, Our First Nativity quickly rocketed to the top of our list of best sellers. Its total sales are over 50% higher than any other item we’ve ever sold. (Although ‘Our First Nativity TWO‘ is quickly gaining ground on it). So why is ‘Our First Nativity’ our best-selling nativity play? (more…)

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Little Black Cloud

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“This is the story of the Little Black Cloud,
Who wanted to share his rain around!”

As it’s nearly time to start planning for all those harvest assemblies and harvest / thanksgiving services, we wanted to take a look back at ‘The Little Black Cloud‘.

The Little Black Cloud
The Little Black Cloud

This always popular mini musical is one of the shortest, simplest performances that we’ve ever published. The Little Black Cloud was written in 2002 and eventually published in September 2004. It was actually designed purely as a harvest musical, to be used in UK schools. However, since then it has been performed all around the world, at all times of the year. (more…)

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Journey On Leavers’ Assembly

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Over the next few weeks schools across the UK will be closing for the summer and saying goodbye to their oldest pupils, as they move on to the next stage of their education. We’re sure that as usual there will be many teachers trying to scramble together a last-minute Leavers’ Assembly performance. So, to help all these teachers out and save a lot of time, we thought we’d focus some attention on our best-selling assembly product: ‘Journey On Leavers’ Assembly’.

Journey On Leavers Assembly CD
Journey On

Originally published in 2009, Journey On has gone on to become our best-selling assembly title We believe that the main reasons for its enduring popularity are down to the very catchy, rock-based songs, along with a genuinely hilarious play script (Honey I Grew Down The Kid) which has now been performed in hundreds of schools across the country. We’ve also heard anecdotes about it being widely recommended through word of mouth and on various teachers forums. (more…)

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Easter Assembly Quotes

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It’s just two weeks till Easter, so if you still haven’t planned your school’s Easter assembly or your church’s Easter service, then look no further than our ready-to-use, all age ‘Easter Assembly CD‘. It contains 10 brilliant Easter songs, with vocal and backing tracks. Plus, six ready-to-go assembly scripts with stories, plays, activities, ideas, readings, prayers and more.

The Easter Assembly CD For Primary Schools
The Easter Assembly CD For Primary Schools

This easy-to-use CD / Download also comes with printable masks, song sheets, sheet music, PowerPoints and more.

Here’s what some of our customers have said about it:

Used It So Much
“A few years ago, we went to buy three of your general assembly packs, but then realised that for not much more we could buy your “101 assembly songs” 15 CD pack, which is staggeringly good value for money. Anyway, this Cd was included, and it was something we hadn’t looked at before buying from you. But over the last few years it’s probably the one CD that we’ve used the most. Great songs, great assembly content. The children love singing the songs and always ask for them again and again, even when Easter is long gone! Well done.”
Mr Bevan (more…)

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Mothers Day Quotes

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Mothers day in the UK is nearly upon us. So it’s a good time to remind you that our very popular ‘Mothers day Assembly CD‘ can be downloaded for just £7.99!

This collection of Mothers Day songs and Mothers Day talks / performance scripts, is perfect for your Mothers Day celebrations in school or church. It contains 6 superb Mothers Day songs for all ages, with the usual vocal tracks and backing tracks. It also includes 3 time saving, editable scripts, containing ideas, stories, plays, activities, readings, prayers and more.

All in all, this is a truly fantastic CD which over the years has become one of our best sellers. It contains everything you need to make your Mothers Day celebration or Mothers Day service extra special!Mothers Day CD and Download

Here are some quotes from customer who have already used it: (more…)

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Happy New Year

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Happy New Year from everyone at Learn2soar Music. We hope you all had a great Christmas break. Please remember to fill us in on how all your festive performances went.…

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Organising a Children’s Musical: 14 steps to staging the perfect show

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If you’ve never had any experience in organising a children’s musical before, it can be very daunting. Especially if you find yourself thrust into the role without any previous stage or musical experience. To help you out, here is a check list that we’ve compiled from many years’ experience of organising children’s musicals, nativity plays and class assemblies:

organising a children's musical
Organising A Children’s Musical

(more…)

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“Outstanding Music Workshops”

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What teachers say about our School Music Workshops…

music workshops
School Music Workshops

At this time of year, we usually write a blog about our school music workshops, in preparation for what is traditionally our busiest period of the year for workshop bookings across the UK. But this year for a change, we thought we’d let teachers who’ve used our services over the last 15 years, tell you themselves how much they liked Learn2soar’s Music Workshops:

Fab-u-lous!!!!
“The pop star workshop was amazing. The children learnt so much (as did I) and they were thrilled with the songs that they wrote and recorded. A fabulous day, an exceptional experience, we definitely want him back!”
K Harris, Year 6 teacher (more…)

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A Bumper Harvest: Harvest Assembly Songs and Ideas

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It’s Harvest time! As many schools and churches are now in full preparation for their harvest festivals, teachers and children’s church workers everywhere are looking for harvest assembly songs and ideas…

Well, there’s no need to look any further than Learn2soar Music’s range of harvest assembly songs and ideas. We have four great harvest CDs/downloads suitable for ages 3-11. Each contains catchy songs, simple scripts and lots of extra fantastic resources:

H-A-R-V-E-S-T Spells Harvest
H-A-R-V-E-S-T Spells Harvest

H-A-R-V-E-S-T Spells Harvest

This truly is a bumper harvest assembly songs and ideas CD/download.  With seven songs and dozens of pages of stories and ideas. You have everything you need for a harvest spectacular or split up the material so that you have plenty of songs and ideas for the next several years in a row. Either way it’s fantastic value for money.

What teachers say: “We used this CD with our whole school from Y1 to Y6. Each year group performed a different song, while the script was read/performed by the older children. It went very well indeed. Thank you very much.” – J Crompton – Music Teacher (more…)

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Free Assemblies

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It's time to assemble your school assemblies for the new year... so we have some free assemblies for you: As the new academic year dawns upon us many primary teachers begin…

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‘No Christian assemblies please, Not in our school’

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Christian assemblies seem to be dying out. Here is our view on the current state of Christian assemblies in schools, given the current legal requirement for all pupils in England and Wales to take part in a “broadly Christian” act of daily collective worship.
Christian Assemblies Singing
School Christian assemblies appear to be dying out

One of the most common queries we receive about our products is the good old ‘is it religious?’ question. The answer we always give is, ‘yes and no!’ In other words, although most of our school assemblies and children’s musicals contain Christian themes, each script also gives the customer the flexibility to remove religious references altogether, if required. This is because each product contains editable versions of the scripts, with many also containing multiple script variations, including non-religious alternatives. Therefore, even our most Christian assemblies can quickly become non-Christian assemblies if so desired.

However, looking back to when we started in business in the early 2000’s, this issue was a lot more challenging for us. Back then, each one of our assembly CDs and school musicals had just one, un-editable script. Regretably, there was very little flexibility. Therefore after a few years of…

Customer: “Is it Religious?”

Us: “Yes!”

Customer: (Silence as they hang up)

… we were forced to become more flexible, from a financial point of view as much as anything else. (more…)

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10 Leavers’ Assembly Ideas! Fresh ideas for Year 6 Leavers

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It’s that time of year again when teachers everywhere are preparing for their school leavers’ assembly…

If you’re starting to make plans but find yourself short of inspiration, don’t panic! On this page you’ll find 10 Leavers’ Assembly Ideas for you to use for free.

1. Alien Invasion Play

alien-leavers-assemblySet your class the thrilling challenge of creating their own leavers’ play about an alien spaceship that suddenly lands in the school grounds on their final day at school. Out pops a group of curious aliens who have never seen humans before! They know nothing about feelings, friendship, learning, or even our planet. Wide-eyed and eager, the aliens bombard the children with questions, desperate to understand this strange new world.

The children must become both storytellers and teachers, answering the aliens’ questions by sharing their own memories, experiences, and hopes for the future. Possible alien questions to inspire the play:

  • What is school, and why do you come here every day?
  • What are friends, and how do you know if someone is a good one?
  • Why do teachers tell you what to do?
  • What happens when you leave school—where do you go next?
  • Why do humans laugh, cry, or get angry?
  • What is a family, and why do you live together?
  • Why do you play games, and what do they teach you?
  • What is the future, and why do you sometimes worry about it?
  • Why do humans dream, and what do dreams mean?
  • What makes you proud, excited, or scared?

Encourage the children to weave these questions into their play, using dialogue, storytelling, and even songs or movement. As they answer, they’ll reveal their own feelings about growing up, leaving school, and stepping into the unknown.
(more…)

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CDs vs Downloads in a Children’s Musical – 7 Reasons Downloads Win!

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Not every school is luckyCD v Downloads in a Children's Musical enough to have musicians capable of playing along to an entire children’s musical production. That’s why Learn2soar Music provide professional backing music for each children’s musical we sell, so your cast can sing along karaoke style for a fantastic performance. But what format should you use for the backing music? A CD or a download? Every children’s musical we publish is available in both formats, but we believe downloads are always the best choice and easily win the ‘CDs vs Downloads’ battle. Here are 7 reasons why downloads save time, save money, save hassle and even help save the planet…

1. CDs Get Damaged Easily

Are you old enough to remember when the first CDs came out in the early 80s? Manufacturers boldly stated that scratches and dirt would make no difference to the playing quality! Today that claim is almost as laughable as early cigarette advertising which promised ‘amazing health benefits’!  How times change…

We’ve all shared the frustration of finding that our favourite disk is suddenly jumping through the best song and when we examine the disk surface, it’s usually the smallest of scuff marks that’s the problem. Let’s face it, a jumping CD is annoying. However, a jumping CD in the middle of a children’s musical performance is an absolute nightmare! Over the years we’ve sadly heard several horror stories of that very event occurring! Fortunately, digital downloads played through a computer, MP3 player or iPod don’t get dirty or scratched and always play perfectly well. (more…)

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9 Unique School Music Workshops

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9 Unique Music Workshops from Learn2soar Music

You may have noticed that we offer very popular ‘Music Man‘ and ‘Pop Star‘ music workshops to UK-based Primary Schools and Pre-Schools. However, did you know that we offer several other unique music workshops, projects and services? We’ve recently updated our Music Workshop Pages and added a new Special Projects page, where you will find full details. Here are some of the highlights…

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What A Star Nativity Play: How your children can shine like stars!

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‘What A Star’ is a groundbreaking nativity play designed to boost your children’s self-image. This blog looks at how and why it was made.

Early in 2013 I had an idea for a new nativity play for young children. The premise was simple: a little star who wasn’t very good at shining would be chosen by God to become the brightest star of all, shining over Bethlehem, guiding the wise men to visit the newborn baby Jesus.
What A Star - How your children can shine like stars
I suggested the idea to my teenage daughter, who ran with it. Within a few days she had enterprisingly produced the first draft of what would become: ‘What A Star!’ A nativity play for ages 3-7. In her script, my daughter had introduced the idea of the star going to ‘star-school’, but being the worst in the class at everything, getting teased by other ‘bigger, better stars’ and feeling unhappy at being so small and shy. By the end of the play of course, Leo the little star becomes the biggest, brightest, most important star of all, as he shines over Bethlehem’s stable.

All good and well, but what surprised me most was that my daughter had chosen to give this star a name… Leo! Having written dozens of nativity plays over the years, my first instinct was to change the name or remove it altogether. But then I thought about the significance of this tiny name…

Straight away, I should state that I never read horoscopes, or take any interest in star signs or the zodiac, but I do know that because my birthday is in late July, my star sign is ‘Leo’. Therefore, as I read the first draft of the script, I immediately felt a connection to this little star, who didn’t feel as good as all the larger, older stars in his class.

(more…)

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‘Away WITH The Manger’ in the newspapers

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This article is from 2014

‘Away WITH The Manger’ is one of our most popular Christmas plays. In this blog, co-writer Stuart Ross writes about the publicity it’s been receiving.

Two years ago, I released a Christmas play titled ‘Away WITH The Manger‘. The play had been lovingly crafted over a long five-year period and had originated from an idea by my 9-year-old daughter. She actually wrote the first few scenes including the first song which goes like this…

Away WITH The Manger Christmas Nativity Play
Away WITH The Manger Christmas Nativity Play

“Away with the manger, two robbers stole it,
They were called Bob and Bill and they were both big twits…”

The hilarious story then tells the tale of two bungling burglars who are on the run with a bag of stolen jewels. Through a strange turn of events, the jewels are hidden in the local school’s nativity manger and soon the comical crooks want them back! As the characters stage their school nativity play, mayhem ensues, but one thing is clear… crime doesn’t pay, as the crooks are eventually locked up. The play then finishes with a glorious nativity scene, with Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Wise Men, etc… reminding the audience of the true reason for the season.

‘Away With The Manger’ was an instant hit and has now been successfully performed in thousands of schools around the world. However, one thing we didn’t realise when publishing it, was that certain British national newspapers had a different agenda… (more…)

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Palm Sunday Is Missing!!!

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Palm Sunday is sadly ignored by most modern calenders, but this sad omission may be indicative of modern society’s uncaring side…

On the wall in my office is a wall planner published by ‘Teach Primary’. It contains an extensive list of important dates from many world religions including obvious events like Christmas, Easter, Ramadan and Diwali, as well as more minor dates like All Saints Day and Ash Wednesday. As I was studying the planner recently, I noticed a surprising omission. Palm Sunday was missing! Later, I checked all the other diaries and calendars around our house and found that only one noted that this coming Sunday April 13th would be Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday Musical: The Donkeys Tale
Palm Sunady Musical: The Donkeys Tale

I believe that Palm Sunday is an important date and shouldn’t be ignored. That’s one of the reasons why I recently published a short Palm Sunday children’s musical: ‘The Donkey’s Tale’, which tells the story of Palm Sunday from the donkey’s point of view. As Jesus entered Jerusalem on a humble donkey, the people shouted ‘Hosanna’, which literally means ‘save us’.

The people of Jerusalem were hoping that Jesus would save them from Roman occupation. Of course, that wasn’t the case, but the reason this story always impacts me is because it reminds me of all the people in our world today who are also shouting ‘save me’…

(more…)

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