Case Study: Primary School

St. Catherine's Primary School, Glasgow

P2 Class, Leader: Marianne McDougall

Soundbops: St Catherine's Primary School

Music Education Made Easy

St. Catherine’s Primary School is a council run school in Balornock, North Glasgow, that does not currently have instruments for use in their early years classrooms. Soundbops was trialed for a day to see if pupils could work together on tasks and songs, sharing the instruments in pairs.

Self Expression through Music

Soundbops offered the children an opportunity to experiment with sounds and the instrument’s unique layout, with modular stackable pieces, allowed them to play freely with music. “They enjoyed exploring with the Soundbops, they enjoyed listening to the sounds and creating different chords, and making up their own songs as well as following the songs in the book.” Marianne McDougall, the class teacher explained at the end of the session.

Teachable Resources

Mrs. McDougall felt that Soundbops’ ancillary resources offered an accessible way into music for teachers that are not as experienced with the subjects. “The teaching materials looked like they were very well laid out. They had the learning intentions and the success criteria there, and they were quite easy for a teacher to follow… I’m not a music teacher myself but I do have an interest in bringing more music into the classroom””

Play-based Learning

Most importantly the children enjoyed their time learning with Soundbops and experimenting with music. Mrs. McDougall felt that the day “was a great learning experience for the children; they had lots of fun.”