There is much to celebrate. Read the first 2 pages of the government response. Funding is continuing for another year. But in this year, things will change. There will be a new national music plan, and providers (including us) will have to work together in hubs. There may be local music leaders in education. Providers will then have to bid for any funding from April 2012. So things will have to develop in the music education world very fast.
The report and response can be downloaded below. I cannot impress strongly enough that everyone should have a read.
Here is a recording from a Radio 3 interview yesterday (Saturday) where Michael Gove was interviewed about the report. With Mr Gove at present, we have to pick at a few words to understand what he wants. Please have a listen.
He is passionate about music, and wants it to have a place. Where it fits into the National Curriculum is a worry, pending the review that is taking place. Many schools are already cutting back, advising students to take the EBacc subjects. At Simon Balle, parents of Year 9 students are being given advice about the EBacc for them to make their own choices. Year 9 parents evening is this Tuesday.
Support for music at Simon Balle is strong. However, we all have to work together more and we must not take the support we get from the school for granted. We sell a product – the teaching – and we have to ensure that all is of the highest possible quality. We have to go beyond what most schools offer, to maintain the fantastic standard we have. The national picture is changing, and we have to stay ahead of the game, to ensure that every penny we are allocated works has hard as it can. This is something we are already doing (as the recent audit highlighted) and is something we will continue to do, working as efficiently as we can. James Dickinson from the Music Service has suddenly asked to come and see Alison, to discuss new ideas, ways of working. He is visiting on Friday.
The woodwind and brass team are having inset on Wednesday, looking at the quality of instrumental teaching, what is expected in every lesson and how we can make more use of technology. The New Music Team, and strings, piano and voice will have their insets in future weeks with a similar theme. This is all with the aim that we have a minimum standard for instrumental teaching at Simon Balle, something that all students can expect. This then fits in with the whole school priority of raising standards, and the department aim to work more as a team.
Technology will play a huge part in this. The music newsletter this week is on a new blog, as you can see. It is more interactive, it is easier to put everything together in one place, and past newsletters (posts) can be referred back to. On the right, there are links to the blogs that we have recently set up. We have the music intranet, and we continue to seek new ways to engage with students, help them achieve. The world is changing. Education is changing.
So, over the coming weeks, we will be looking at how we teach and how we can continue to adapt to the new educational landscape. New email, technology, reducing the amount of paper we use. I am spending much of my time at present being involved in the whole school transformation of technology, new ideas, new ways of working. This is so that the music department is at the centre of the changes, still important to the school, still vital to the students.
We should not forget that what we achieve is continually fantastic, and everyone is working so hard in one of the most intense times of the year. Coursework to complete, deadlines to meet, exams to prepare for. Musical Theatre rehearsals today, Parents Evening on Tuesday. A Strings concert last Tuesday that was inspiring. The Big Band Evening a week ago that has seen a flood of emails about how wonderful the department is (see the kitchen board). We have much to celebrate, day after day.
One final thought for us all, that I have seen in a recent publication. ‘If they don’t learn they way I teach, can I teach the way they learn?’ Music education is on a journey and we have to be at the front of that journey across the department.
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| The Big Band Evening - click to see Niall's bow tie! |
