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The Elgar Society Education Partnership aims to introduce children to Elgar and his music through the use of the
Internet, and through other subjects now on the school curriculum
If you would like further details of the Partnership, please contact:
Martyn Marsh
Chairman, Elgar Society Education Partnership
73, Wren Way
Farnborough
Hampshire
GU14 8TA
Tel: 01252 641125
Email here
Education Partners in the Programme are:
The Elgar Society
The Elgar Birthplace Museum
Hampshire Recorder Sinfonia
The Cobbe Collection Trust
Printmatters
We thank our Education Partners for donating books and CDs towards the education resource packs.
Elgar Schools Project - Guidance Note for schools
When a school considers taking part in the Elgar Society’s Education Programme scheme they should consider
how much time that they wish to spend on it and what benefit the children, and school as a whole, will derive from it.
Ideally, to benefit from the Education Resource Pack and to allow children to engage with Elgar’s life and times
a school should spend at least a week on the project. So far the schools that have taken part have done this and have
been able to use the various aspects of Elgar’s life and music to fit in with, and supplement, the National Curriculum,
or their normal weekly lessons.
Here are some pointers on how to set up a school project:-
When considering a project, try to find some theme to link into; for example at Fernhill Primary School (Hampshire)
the children focused on Elgar’s music with various classes taking a piece of music and interpreting its meaning for them.
Subsequently they put together a concert performance to demonstrate what they had learned from this experience. On top
of this each class looked at other aspects of Elgar’s life and times with year six (11 yr olds) doing an internet project
followed by a PowerPoint presentation.
Fittleworth School C of E First School (Sussex) based their project around the village of Fittleworth and Brinkwells
where Elgar lived. Some of the children were interested in Elgar’s travels and used the ‘Dear Carice’ postcard book as
a basis for a project about their own holidays. They then took part in an exhibition about village life using the
materials that they had put together, telling a story about Elgar and how it had influenced them.
Sir Edward Elgar was a great traveller and he visited many parts of the UK and travelled overseas during his lifetime
and this is another source that can be used as a starting point when approaching a project about Elgar. For example
Elgar made a short visit to Portsmouth in Hampshire to conduct a concert; this allows a school to look at a number of
aspects of the visit itself, the music played, what impact the visit had on Portsmouth and who was involved at a local
level.
For those schools that do not have this direct connection with Elgar, the Fernhill Primary School option is the most
successful one. The EEPP will be providing books, CD’s and a DVD or Video (Ken Russell’s Monitor film about Elgar) to
help the children and teaching staff understand Elgar, and give those taking part a wide selection of options to look at
for their project.
The EEPP may be able to offer help in future school projects. An example of this was when a class in Fernhill Primary
School did a project on the Victorians. The Elgar Birthplace Museum was able to provide a handling box of various
items that were used by Elgar and Victorians in general. This shows how the partnership was able to offer a practical way
of helping a school in obtaining appropriate learning resources.
Above all, the main thing to point out is that this is a learning experience of discovery and fun for the children
(and teachers). As with Fernhill Primary School very little information was given about Elgar. This was left to those
taking part to use their imagination and ingenuity and embark on a journey of learning and discovery.
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