Where music meets learning with Song Pals

Benedict Heaton — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:34:40 +0000

Song Pals is a new Pre-Primary course created in collaboration with , designed to make learning English fun, musical, and engaging for young learners in Spain. Launched in early 2025, the course brings together Super Simple’s catchy songs and characters with our expertise.

Built with extensive teacher input, Song Pals offers age-appropriate topics, flexible teaching pathways, and a wide range of resources to support diverse classroom needs.

We spoke to Louise Philip, ELT & CLIL Primary Product Manager, and Celia Garcia, Assistant Product Manager, about the creation of the course.

What specific needs or challenges did teachers express that led us to rethink traditional Pre-Primary course formats?

We did extensive market research, including classroom observations in several regions in Spain, interviews and an in-person focus group in Madrid with teachers using both course books and their own material. We discovered that all teachers shared similar challenges and had similar needs. What stood out most was that all teachers wanted flexibility—to choose topics in the order they wanted, and to be able to teach what they wanted in any order.

Also, many teachers told us that the pre-primary context is becoming increasingly fragmented: rotating teachers, very limited timetables, and the need to align with Spanish-language content, which leaves little room for more traditional, linear ELT courses.

How are children responding to Song Pals, especially the music-based learning approach?

Teachers told us how much their students already loved Super Simple’s songs and characters, and they were used to using the songs in class to present and practice language. Children are also fascinated with the Noodle puppet which helps bring Song Pals to life!

In your view, what makes Song Pals unique—either in terms of pedagogy, format, or its collaboration with Super Simple?

There are so many things that make it unique! The fact that the topics are a result of teacher collaboration, the Fun Book format which really engaged students and teachers, the iterative content added termly to the Song Pals website to ensure engagement, and, of course, the fantastic songs. Song Pals also includes customizable resources and innovative and digitized stories designed to interact directly with all the content in the pages.

Celia Garcia, Assistant Product Manager

What were the biggest considerations in balancing pedagogical integrity with flexibility?

We worked extensively to ensure that Song Pals aligns with local educational legislation while still providing the flexibility that teachers need. The Song Pals stories strand (available with Super Fun Books) have themes relating to social and emotional development through the Song Pals characters, which is an important area within the Spanish curriculum. We also ensured that each topic includes a wide range of graded resources in multiple formats, with clearly mapped targets and extension language. Many of these materials are even customizable. The goal was to give teachers everything they need in one place, so they don’t have to search for additional resources or spend extra time adapting materials.

We also provide learning situations, assessment material, and a Teacher’s Toolkit with teaching notes and a guide to make the most of the materials.

What was the rationale behind developing three different product formats?

The Pre-Primary market varies in terms of timetables across regions and school types, from one session a week to five, and in methodology, with some teachers requiring more extensive print formats for students and others requiring less so that they can also use their own resources in class. We also detected a need for a resource bank, leading to the creation of the Simple and Super Fun Books and the website-only option.

Louise Philip, ELT & CLIL Primary Product Manager

Find out more about Song Pals .

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A centenary concert to mark 100 years of music publishing

Victoria Montgomery — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 11:50:09 +0000

On a wintry November evening, in the chapel at Merton College, Oxford, we hosted a concert to commemorate 100 years of music publishing at ��VLOG Press (OUP).

Surrounded by candlelight, Christmas trees, and carols, Merton’s chapel was the perfect setting to celebrate this historic event, and to recognise the people who have played an important role in the success of Oxford’s Music department, since Hubert Foss founded it in 1923.

By featuring music at the concert from across the department’s 100-year history but with a focus on recent publishing, we sought to showcase music that is not only inspired by our heritage but that celebrates excellence and reflects the world around us.

The evening’s programme included works from many of the talented composers published by OUP including B. E. Boykin, James Whitbourn, Cecilia McDowall, Reena Esmail, Bob Chilcott, Christopher Harris, Kim Porter and John Rutter, who conducted one of his best-loved carols, Star Carol, inviting the audience to join in with the chorus.

We were delighted to see so many of our composers at the concert, along with other guests such as Diana Sparkes, daughter of Hubert Foss; Carols for Choirs 6 co-editors, Bob Chilcott and David Hill; and OUP colleagues and business partners (printers, retailers, digital platforms and more).

John Rutter leads the Choir of Merton College and London Voices in a rehearsal of Star Carol.

Speaking about the concert, Rachel Lindley, Director of Music Publishing, said:

“The success of OUP Music will always be built upon the composers with whom we work, and it was special that we could bring together so many of them in the audience. It was a reminder of the strong relationships we’ve built over the years, with many travelling from the furthest corners of the UK, and one composer even coming from the USA for the event.”

A carol concert wouldn’t be complete without a choir (or two), and we were honoured to hear London Voices and The Choir of Merton College sing to the highest standard. We also hosted a choir of children from local schools who are part of the Oxford Bach Choir Schools Choral Programme, which saw 100 talented voices raising the roof singing Bob Chilcott’s Rhythm. This piece was made freely available as part of our Song for All initiative, in which we invited choirs worldwide to sing on the same day and upload their performances online.

The Choir of Merton College, Oxford.

The evening also provided us with the opportunity to launch our latest volume in the series, Carols for Choirs 6 – perhaps to be known in the future as ‘the purple book’, just as the first Carols for Choirs book is affectionately known as ‘the green book’. To highlight its publication, speeches were made in the antechapel by John Rutter, Bob Chilcott, David Hill, and Head of Publishing at OUP, Robyn Elton, who led the project.

The Centenary Concert was the perfect opportunity to bring together members of OUP’s community, reflect on our milestones, and look forward to the next 100 years and beyond of music publishing at OUP.

Copies of Carols for Choirs 6 at the 28 November launch event.

The post A centenary concert to mark 100 years of music publishing appeared first on ��VLOG Press.

Music Archives - ����VLOG Press

Where music meets learning with Song Pals

A centenary concert to mark 100 years of music publishing

On a wintry November evening, in the chapel at Merton College, Oxford, we hosted a concert to commemorate 100 years of music publishing at ����VLOG Press (OUP).

Music Archives - ��VLOG Press

On a wintry November evening, in the chapel at Merton College, Oxford, we hosted a concert to commemorate 100 years of music publishing at ��VLOG Press (OUP).