The Care Inspectorate have published a new practice note, ‘Sing for joy and learning’ for early learning and childcare settings to help them promote creative singing, and musical experiences for children, from babies to older children.
We know there are many benefits for children from singing naturally in their play and learning experiences. This practice note can be used to identify singing experiences and resources to promote early language development in indoor and outdoor environments and also for older children to enhance their skills and confidence.
“During the pandemic children have spent significantly less time in their ELC settings and less time with friends and family than they normally would have. To support children in their development as we move forward, singing, music and dance should be a regular activity in a setting.” ‘Sing for joy and learning’ page 2.
The publication is available to download in the publications and statistics area of the website here.

In order to support you further it might be worth reading the ‘Making the Most of Songs and Rhymes sheet which can be found on the Highland Literacy Blog as part of the developing phonological awareness section of ‘Taking a developmental approach to emerging literacy in ELC.‘