MCA Summer Festival of Music and Art — A Celebration You Won’t Want to Miss!

Summer is here, and what better way to celebrate than with an evening full of music, art, food, and fun? The MCA Summer Festival of Music and Art is coming to Mayflower Academy, Ham Drive, Plymouth, on Saturday 12th July, and you and your family are warmly invited — completely FREE!

 

Here’s why you need to save the date:

A Musical Line-Up Bursting with Talent

The stage will come alive with performances beginning at 5:45 PM, featuring a fantastic mix of community and school choirs, plus incredible soloists.

• North Prospect Community Choir — Plymouth’s friendliest choir is sure to fill the evening with joy and community spirit.
• Blokes Who Sing, fresh from releasing their first single, will bring their brilliant energy and harmonies.
• Mayflower Community Academy’s Choir La will showcase the amazing voices of their young singers with a performance full of pride and talent.
• City of Sons, a youth male voice choir, will share their powerful sound and skill.
• Ford Primary School Choir will join in with their enthusiasm and charm.
• And there’ll be a range of sensational soloists adding even more sparkle to this wonderful program.

From seasoned adult choirs to the youngest performers, this event will celebrate the best of Plymouth’s musical community.

 

🏃‍♂️ ProActive Sports & Games

From 6 PM, ProActive will be running sports and games — perfect for kids to burn off energy and for families to join in some friendly competition. Expect fun, teamwork, and a few giggles along the way!

🎨 Children’s Art Gallery

Come and admire a stunning display of local children’s creative work. The gallery will be packed with color and imagination, showcasing the incredible artistic talent of our young people.

 

🐝 Six Bees: Bee Experience

Get up close with nature thanks to the fascinating Six Bees Experience. Learn about these amazing pollinators, their role in the environment, and how we can help protect them. It’s hands-on, educational, and perfect for curious minds of all ages!

✂️ Arts & Crafts Activities

If you love getting creative, don’t miss the arts and crafts activities available throughout the evening. Try your hand at something new, make a keepsake to take home, and celebrate creativity in a fun, relaxed way.

 

📚 MCA Learning Workshops & Bookshop

Drop into the MCA learning workshops to see what’s on offer, or pick up a good read from the on-site bookshop. It’s a great chance to connect with what’s happening at Mayflower Community Academy and learn about future opportunities.

🍔 Hot Food & Refreshments

No festival is complete without tasty food, and there will be plenty on offer to keep you well fed and refreshed while you enjoy the festivities.

🎟️ Community Raffle

Don’t miss the community raffle! With brilliant prizes up for grabs, it’s a fun way to support local projects and maybe take home something special.

 

🌼 Come and Celebrate!

With gates opening at 5 PM, this is the perfect evening to bring together family, friends, and neighbours to celebrate music, art, sport and the community spirit that makes Plymouth shine.

For more details, follow our Instagram pages:

@madeinmayflowermusic, @northprospectchoir, @blokeswhosing, @cityofsons.ymvc

As the Christmas season approaches, schools across the country are buzzing with preparations for carol services, nativity plays, and festive performances. For children, this time of year often means extended vocal use—not just in school but also during family gatherings and community events. Combined with winter illnesses and cold weather, these activities can put a strain on young voices. This made me reflect on the importance of teaching good vocal health, especially as someone who has personally experienced the damaging effects of a vocal injury. 

At Mayflower Community Academy, we place a strong emphasis on vocal health as part of our music education. This isn’t just about producing better singers; it’s about teaching children to care for a vital tool they’ll use throughout their lives. From their very first music lessons in our foundation classes, we introduce our students to practices that prioritise vocal care. 

There’s a common misconception that musicians, performers, and artists enjoy watching or listening to their own performances. After all, they spend years honing their craft and putting it out into the world for others to experience. But the truth is, many artists find revisiting their work uncomfortable, even unsettling. Elton John famously admitted that he dislikes listening to his old songs or watching past performances. When he does, he often finds himself critiquing the tiniest details, wishing he had done things differently. This type of self-criticism is often rooted in perfectionism, and while it can lead to moments of self-doubt, it can also serve as a powerful tool for artistic growth when used constructively.

 

For musicians, getting beyond the initial discomfort of watching themselves perform can open the door to self-improvement and refinement. Yes, it requires pushing past self-doubt and facing one’s anxieties head-on. But in doing so, artists gain the opportunity to identify areas for improvement, refine their technique, and ultimately create better work in the future. Self-reflection, when practiced with kindness and intention, becomes an invaluable part of the creative process.

 

During our most recent year 6 leavers assembly rehearsal, I watched something pretty amazing unfold. Every student - whether they were naturally confident singers or a bit hesitant - was singing with real joy and assurance. That wasn’t always the case. I’ve had plenty of conversations with colleagues from other schools who tell me things like, "I can’t get my boys to sing," or "Year 6s just won’t sing - they refuse!" But we’ve managed to flip that script at our school. Now, we’ve got a culture of singing that turns even the most reluctant students into enthusiastic singers. How did we get here? It all started by making singing an essential part of everyday school life, right from the moment students walk through the doors. It’s something we’ve woven into the fabric of not just our school, but our wider community too.

This year, the Year 6 Leavers Assembly took on a new twist, yet it retained its timeless magic and charm. One of the highlights of the event was the much-anticipated year group song performance by the Year 6 students. Over the past few weeks, we had been meticulously working on an arrangement of Pink’s "Cover Me in Sunshine." As a cohort, we unanimously agreed that this song perfectly encapsulated the joyous spirit of the children. Its familiarity also made it accessible to those less confident in their singing abilities.

At Mayflower Community Academy, we're committed to nurturing the musical talents and interests of our students. To ensure our music curriculum is as engaging and diverse as possible, we recently convened a meeting with our Academy Music Council. This group of passionate students has been selected to help shape the future of our musical learning.

Here's what we discovered: