Hawkshead Primary School

Composers, Singers and Instrumentalists

A photograph of a group of schoolchildren at Hawkshead Primary School wearing blue jumpers and ties and white collared shirts. They are huddled around a table and paying attention to something outside the bottom right corner of the frame. There are illustrations of natural phenomena hanging on the wall in the background.

All images on this page courtesy of Hawkshead Primary School. This page also includes quotes from the children gathered from data collected after the project.

  • CLASS 2: Years 3 & 4
  • SCHOOL Hawkshead Esthwaite Primary School; Hawkshead, Ambleside, Lake District, United Kingdom
  • HONOURS Some of us have won medals for our achievements in dance at a singing, dancing and acting competition
  • MINERVA SCIENTIFICA PROJECT Voices for the Future 2021-22: Beatrix Potter

Fungi crafts we made at the Armitt Museum

Scientific Connections

In our classroom we have been learning about:

  • The human body and digestive system
  • We talked to a sports therapist about bones and muscles
  • We went on a walk in the local woods to look for mushrooms
  • We went to the Armitt museum in Ambleside to learn about Beatrix Potter, to see her paintings and we learnt about mushrooms
  • We planted hazel and hawthorn and oak and cherry trees at a local nature reserve

We learnt about fungi in the local woods

On the project we learnt:

  • I learnt about that fungi eats poo, oil and wood

  • Fungi send messages in an underground network called mycorrhiza
  • I learnt a lot about fungi, mycology and the wood wide web
  • I enjoyed learning about Beatrix Potter because I like history
  • I learnt that fungi makes chocolate taste nice

Compositions

Title: MEGASONG for Beatrix Potter’s Fantastical Fungi
Scientist: BEATRIX POTTER, LYNNE BODDY
Composed by: Hawkshead Esthwaite Primary School Years 3 & 4
Written in: 2021
Arranged by: Frances M Lynch & Herbie Clarke
For: Voices, piano and electronics
Performed by: the composers
First Performed: on zoom for UK FUNGUS DAY as part of electric voice theatre’s performance “Beatrix Potter’s Secret Kingdom”

We drew at the Armitt Museum

“Voices for the Future” discovers, honours, and promotes female voices past and present and to inspire, guide and build diverse voices for the future. As part of this project, there were 3 workshop programmes delivered by a team of experts in science, history, art and composition in 6 Primary Schools (mainly on Zoom) based on local women scientists. Beatrix Potter was not just an author but also a Mycologist who lived close to Hawkshead Primary School.

Children from Years 3 & 4 at Hawkshead Primary composed and recorded a MEGASONG of Microscopic Music about Beatrix, fungi and conservation; learnt to perform it with British Sign Language and created ecological drawings to use in an accompanying film.

The children worked online with electric voice theatre, leading mycologist Professor Lynne Boddy, science historian Catherine Booth (Retired Science Curator, National Library of Scotland), and with local visual artist Hannah Fox, a female ecologist from Cumbria Wildlife Trust and musician from Cumbria Music Services.

One of us drew a picture of the project on zoom

The children worked in three groups, and each composed verses of the song: ‘Eco Warriors’, ‘Plant Partners’ and ‘Rotters’

  • Our verse was about chocolate
  • We enjoyed composing it!
  • Our verse was about a moldy orange
  • The best thing about our verse was when the mushroom exploded out of the chimney
  • We chanted “humongous fungus”!
  • It was very fun and I enjoyed sharing ideas

One of us made a drawing of Beatrix Potter taking a walk

Education

Mrs Bowen is our teacher. 12 out of 15 people in our class play musical instruments including the flute, piano, recorder, clarinet, guitar and drums.

Occupations

We want to be lots of different things when we grow up—including vets, painters, chefs and fashion designers—but at least half of us also think we could be scientists, singers or composers. Four of us definitely want to be singers, and one even might be a musician playing the guitar.

We loved it when the tin exploded during the MEGASONG and two of us drew an amazing picture

Musical Highlights

Some of us played jingle bells on clarinet and flute at our christmas performance. Some of us also performed special lines in electric voice theatre’s “Beatrix Potter’s Secret Kingdom” event, where we premiered our MEGASONG!

I am a plant partner, a mycorrhiza, sending messages through the Wood Wide Web
to save a birch tree from developers, just as Beatrix would have done
I am a Rotter, an eco-friendly fungi, with a tale of experiments gone wrong, of a
house of mycelia, a story of Beatrix’s dis-believed
I am an Eco-Warrior, saving the Planet, and with Beatrix’s help, saving the gorgeous
taste of her favourite chocolate!

Did You Know?

  • Frances, Kira, Herbie, Catherine and Hannah – They were all great!!!!!!!!!!
  • It was funny because when the tin exploded lots of goo came out
  • In our zoom sessions we learnt new people along the way

An Inspiring Woman

Music: Frances M Lynch and Kira Ramchaitar-Husbands

  • We drew pictures of fungi

    Frances worked really hard to help us compose the music and put all our ideas together

  • Kira composed music

Science: Beatrix Potter, Lynne Boddy and Mary Anning

  • Lynne helped us learn about the fungi
  • Beatrix Potter is a mycologist and an artist and a children’s author
Links