Brought to you by Music Education Solutions

Issue 4.1: Spring 2020

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Whose cultural capital is it anyway?
Why don’t schools teach music?
Songs of Home
NPME Consultation
What is a Deep Dive really like?

Principles for composing

Musical play & playing musically
 Issue 4.1: Spring 2020

Curriculum Music Conference

The fourth annual
Curriculum Music Conference
returns in March!
Join us for a day of 12th March from Lane, London College
inspiration for 9.30am-4pm. of Music Exams,
teaching music in Drums for Schools,
Exhibitors include:
schools! and Collins Music.
Normans Musical
Featuring talks, Instruments, OCR, Sessions include Body
discussions, practical Charanga, Trinity Percussion, Early
workshops, network College London, Years music, SEND
sessions, and more! Music First, Beat Goes music, Deep Dive,
On, Resonance Music Composing, Drums,
This event takes place
Institute, Pizzicato and more!
at Walsall Arena on

Music Education Projects & Partnerships Day

We guarantee that together schools, arts each participant’s
Find out more
you will never have organisations, music needs, set alongside
about all these
been to an event like education hubs, and some intriguing wild
events on the this before! private music card surprises!
Music Education teachers, and forge
This event is specially The event takes place
Solutions connections between on 11th June 2020 in
curated around each
website! them in a series of
individual delegate’s Birmingham. Early
bespoke meetings
partnership needs bird discount tickets
expertly tailored to
and will bring are now available.

Singing Strategy Symposium

Save the Date! The Singing
Strategy Symposium takes
place on 4th November!
After a year's hiatus, guaranteed to inspire hubs, primary and
our popular annual and invigorate your secondary music and
singing event returns! strategies for singing. singing teachers, and
anyone else with an
Featuring discussions, This event is suitable
interest in singing
debates, workshops for vocal leaders from
education!
and presentations music education

Page 2
 Brought to you by Music Education Solutions Limited

Dive Deeper into Music

This half-day course The course will cover The next public course
will give primary best practice in takes place in Central
music subject leaders planning, delivering, London on 18th March.
the confidence to and assessing the The course is also
develop their school's primary music available through a
music curriculum, curriculum. It is large number of Music
and to prepare for suitable for both Prepare your curriculum
Education Hubs
'deep dive' music specialist and non- for a Deep Dive in this
throughout England.
popular course.
subject inspections specialist teachers Speak to your local hub
under the new who lead the music in to find out if the course
Ofsted framework. their primary school. is coming to your area.

Level 4 Certificate for Music Educators

Music Education deliver the CME their mentor as
Solutions® offers the qualification globally Excellent. Until the end of
Level 4 Certificate for via Distance Learning. February, fees for
To find out more visit the
Music Educators (also Successful learners CME page of the MES the CME are just
known as the Trinity have praised our website and download £695 (reduced
CME) in partnership provision, with 100% the course brochure.
with Trinity College from £725).
of completed learners
London. surveyed rating the
We are validated to support provided by

Online Courses for music teachers

Our online courses optional short Ensemble Teaching, Mu-
are delivered through assignment. Popular sical Learning Theory,
a mixture of online course topics include and more.
reading & research, Managing behaviour Each course costs £99 for
video and audio in music, Planning, Online courses are a great
6 months’ access. way to access CPD for those
examples, interactive Assessment, success teachers tight on time and
. budget.
quizzes, and an in Whole Class

Page 3
 THE NATIONAL PLAN FOR MUSIC
EDUCATION

The government has just announced a consultation for teachers,

parents and young people, and others involved in music education
on the ‘new’ national plan for music education. But what should
this new plan really contain?
Dr Elizabeth Stafford
When the National Plan for Music Education was first released, 2020
seemed like a long way away. Well here we are with the end of the plan just
around the corner, and the government has just opened a consultation to
decide what the new plan should contain.

I believe that the government should instruct all schools that they must
deliver music as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, even if they are
academies which currently do not have to abide by the national
curriculum. This recommendation would be the single most useful
element of a new National Plan for Music Education. Most of the issues
with music education boil down to the fact that schools if they wish are
allowed to ignore it, and in many cases have felt encouraged to ignore it
due to the Ofsted inspection framework (and associated myths about it –
both of which are thankfully now changing!), and the introduction of
measures such as the EBacc and Progress 8. There is very little point
introducing a new NPME if music is not statutory in all schools.

I believe that the next most significant element that could be included in a
new NPME would be a commitment to proper training of primary teachers
in music BEFORE they enter the classroom. This was part of the original
NPME that was dropped almost immediately, which in my view was a
catastrophic error. If teachers are not trained to deliver music properly,
then unless they happen to be a musician themselves, they will be playing
catch-up for the rest of their careers. The extension role for hubs to provide
CPD for school-based staff is not an adequate substitute for proper music
training intervention in ITE. We need to ensure that all our trainee
teachers receive a proper grounding in music, and not rely on that being
addressed once they enter the classroom. Once these teachers are out in
the world, they have to jump over the barriers of finding suitable CPD, in a
suitable location, on a convenient date, at a price that they can afford, and
then request cover so that they can attend. This means that we cannot
guarantee the quality of music teaching across all our schools. CPD should
be a continuation of, not an introduction to, the music education that our
teachers receive when they are training.

It cannot be overstated how important the above issues are to the success
of music education in England. If we do not ensure that schools are
teaching music, and that teachers are properly trained to do so, we cannot
build a stable future for our sector. This makes the remaining content of a
national plan almost irrelevant, and certainly not deliverable with parity
across the country!

There are also some other issues to consider, such as why the plan does not
currently encompass the whole of young people’s education from Early
Years up to Higher Education. I would be delighted to see this as a feature
of the new plan as this would help us as a sector to make more connections
and provide more joined-up services for children & young people. In the
consultation, questions are asked about music technology, which suggests
that this might form a significant part of a new plan. If so, I hope that
consideration is given to the cost of resourcing any music technology
strand, alongside the time and budget cost of appropriate training for
music teachers not familiar with these technologies.

The consultation asks many questions about the role of Music Education
Hubs. While it is logical to use this opportunity to check how hubs are
working, it is important to remember that they are not the only form of
music education, and that the NPME is a document relevant to all music
educators. The government will need to find a more effective way to ensure
that schools in particular take ownership of this new plan, as the original
plan largely passed schools by. I still meet schools now who have no idea
that we have had a national plan for the last 8 years!

Our Music Hub system as set out in the NPME should be the icing on the
cake, not the cake itself. We cannot expect Hubs to solve all music
education’s problems. They should be free to focus on enhancing and
extending our children’s musical experiences beyond the classroom, not
picking up the pieces and replacing classroom provision. The only way to
achieve this is for the government to ensure that children are having music
lessons, delivered by competent and confident teachers, in the classroom in
the first place.

Visit this link to respond to the NPME consultation and have your say
on the future of music education in England:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/music-education-call-for-evidence
 MUSICAL PLAY & PLAYING MUSICALLY
MUSIC IN THE EYFS AND BEYOND

Hannah Luckins

For Early Years Practitioners, the overarching principles of our

Development Matters guidance are all too familiar, but for teachers or
subject leaders looking to get a deeper grasp on children’s learning and
starting points in their school career, it is a worthwhile reminder.
Development Matters (and its partner document Musical Development
Matters) emphasise the interrelatedness of a child’s early development
under the headings of:

 A Unique Child
 Positive Relationships
 Enabling Environments

Here, I hope to exemplify these principles in practice and give some ideas
of how to build upon them as children move from EYFS into Key Stage
One. This could be described as the development from ‘musical play’ to
‘playing musically.’
A Unique Child - Independent, child-initiated learning

In other areas of learning and development it can be easier to relinquish

the control over a child’s engagement with the continuous provision, but
in music the temptation is strong to teach children a specific song, a
specific way to play, a composition structure/ format etc.

Letting the children play and explore is not just an age-appropriate

expectation of their musical learning during EYFS but also the best way for
children to show their unique ideas and skills, and demonstrate their
tastes and aural awareness - ultimately leading to the best outcomes.

Young children never cease to amaze me with their resilience,

perseverance, enjoyment, engagement and imagination when entering
into open-ended activities, when given the freedom to explore at their
leisure. This can sometimes take a great amount of tongue-biting from
adults, who may initially see and hear this as a cacophony of noise with
little finesse, however, over time these interactions with music and
musical instruments develop and become more refined with little need for
adult provocation. Children want to express themselves musically! There
are several great examples of this, and how the practitioners/ teachers
have supported the musical play in Sounds Like Playing: Music and the
Early Years Curriculum by M. Ouvry (2004). This week in our class, the
children have been enjoying playing with the toy castle and the
accompanying fairytale characters. The children with the instruments
independently chose, listened and experimented with different sounds to
make a ‘clip-clop’ sound of the horses’ hooves. As they accelerated their
playing, their peers with the horse toys instinctively moved the toys faster
and began a full descent upon the drawbridge! Here the children were
involved in both musical play, and playing musically - and gloriously all
independently!

Positive Relationships - Adult observations and skilled interactions

This is really good practice for teachers in any age-range, not just in EYFS,
however we are under a great deal of pressure and restrictions in order to
achieve results and trying to fit more learning into shorter periods of time,
which makes it easier to do the opposite of what we know is best in regards
to our observations and interactions as children work independently.

EYFS teachers will be very familiar with the age-old debate about timely
intervention in children’s independent play in order to move learning
forward. A phrase coined and expanded upon by Julie Fisher in her 2016
book Interacting or Interfering? Improving Interactions in Early Years. This
is a good reminder for teachers to take a step back and observe what is
being investigated by the child by themselves at first, and how they are
organizing their own learning and challenge, before jumping in with a
question/ a wonder/ an encouragement to promote independent
progression. Then… How do we ensure our timely interactions bring value
to the child’s own learning journey?

I have found it can be a great tool to simply join in with the music they are
making. Everyone then has fun with musical play!

 Sing/ hum along – no need to be an incredible vocalist, just listen and

copy

 March to their beat of their music – exemplifying musical concepts

before they are formerly learnt in later key stages, it is already
ingrained

 Call and Response with the child (using short, simple melodic or
rhythmic phrases) – the child will feel like the teacher!

 Listen to them – giving such value to their unique responses is a

confidence boost, and builds foundations where there can be no wrong
answer in the music room.

 Modelling language and movements e.g. “I like your music, it’s so fast
it makes me want to dance” (then dance!)

 Wondering rather than firing questions e.g. “I wonder how your music
will end?” – again, giving great value to the child’s unique response,
without the need for a verbal or definitive answer as they children
continue to explore possibilities in their musical play.
 Mantle of the expert - Can you play with/ teach your ‘song’ to a
partner? Children love to play teachers, and this helps them to unpick
and accurately describe/ demonstrate their own work in the process.

 Positive reinforcement – some children will revel in the opportunity to

perform their musical explorations/ play with others in their setting
and enjoy taking a bow to a round of applause. For others, a simple
‘thank you for letting me listen while you were playing’ is more than
enough. Only in the one-to-one interactions will you know how best
to tackle this for each of your children.

Enabling Environments - Characteristics of Effective Learning

For musical play to happen, the whole environment needs to celebrate and
normalise music play and exploration. This can be the physical
environment – making space to listen and try out instruments as much as
any other classroom item (glue sticks, construction materials, reading
books etc.) Or indeed the implicit environment (how children are
encouraged to have a go, to learn from mistakes, to celebrate their own and
others achievements etc.)

Young children naturally express themselves musically, in fact Leuven

explains ‘music’ is one of the indicators of a highly engaged, happy child:
“The child looks happy and cheerful, smiles, cries out with pleasure. They
may be lively and full of energy. Actions can be spontaneous and
expressive. The child may talk to him/herself, play with sounds, hum, sing.
The child appears relaxed and does not show any signs of stress or tension.
He /she is open and accessible to the environment. The child expresses self
-confidence and self-assurance.”

I strongly believe in enabling children to be life-long learners by

developing refined Characteristics of Effective Learning. This sets them up
for the rest of their school career and beyond but is sometimes sidelined
in the busyness of everyday school life. Our enabling environments build
metacognition as well as good character and vital social skills. Music is a
prime opportunity to embed these characteristics! Even the often-quoted
author of The Suzuki Method, Shinichi Suzuki, where many of our greatest,
talented artists of today began, claims “Teaching music is not my main
purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the
day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline
and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.” Isn’t that what we all want for
our children – not that they are the best musician in the world, but that
they have a beautiful character?

Transition to Year 1

Continuing the mindset and provision for musical play into a Key Stage
One or even a Key Stage Two classroom environment and daily routines is
easier than you may think. There are so many possibilities, including but
not limited to: daily singing/chanting (this can be during counting or
phonics or any area of learning to embed key facts), clapping to gain
children’s attention, listening to music during independent tasks/reading/
tidy up time etc. These do not cover the music curriculum but do set the
tone for successful music learning and musical children, whereby elements
of music feel embedded and understood through experiences, and the
attitudes of the children to music are positive and enthusiastic. Classroom
music lessons have historically been too quick to make children ‘fit a mold’
and therefore the children who don’t or can’t ‘fit’ as quickly as others are
sadly soon put off.

Musical play is the building block upon which playing musically begins to
be built. It develops children’s awareness of expression and story-telling in
their musical performances and compositions, as well as in their aural
awareness. I endeavor to leave plenty of room for musical exploration (play)
in all lessons, whether they be in the classroom or in my individual
instrumental teaching. A friend and colleague of mine who teaches harp at
Eastman Community Music School, often uses the phrase ‘comprovising’
which perfectly describes that sweet-spot between musical play
(improvising) and composition (writing music for a purpose), which is
rarely distinguished as separate entities in Early Years settings, and need
not be in Primary classrooms either.

To conclude, I hope to have encouraged some primary music teachers to

feel free to allow space (and potential increase in noise levels) in order that
our children feel comfortable to explore and play with music; with the
ultimate goal that our children are happy, confident and skilled in playing
musically as they leave primary school, building upon strong development
of The Unique Child, Positive Relationships and An Enabling Environment
in conjunction with The Characteristics of Effective Learning begun in
Early Years.

Hannah Luckins is an Early Years

www.howdeninfants.net
www.hannahtheharp.co.uk
www.facebook.com/HannahtheHarp
teacher and Music Subject
Leader at Howden Church of
England Infant School in the
East Riding of Yorkshire as well
as a professional musician,
known as ‘Hannah the Harp’. She
enjoys leading the school choir
and after school music clubs
with Key Stage One children, and
seeing all children develop their
love, understanding and
personal response to music.
Alongside her work in school she
also teaches private music
lessons and workshops, and
wears the nickname ‘the noisiest
teacher’ as a badge of honour!
Put young people’s voices first
Principles for Composing in Music Education

The New Year is always a time of ref lection for me, a

point each year when I stop to draw breath, consider
where I’ve been in the last year and what changes the
new year might bring. And in this spirit, I ’ve been
ref lecting on what actions could be made by the music
education sector, so that we can change how we
support young people in composing their own music.

Judith Robinson has extensive experience of

working in music education settings over the last
30 years. In her current role at Sound and Music,
Judith is Head of Education, leading the strategic
development of its education work and the
delivery of its programme including Listen Imag-
ine Compose, Minute of Listening and the annual
Summer School for young composers.
To clarify: composing means creating new original music or sound,
in any style or genre. It encompasses electronic music, grime,
notated music, improvised music, singer-songwriting or any other
kind of original music. And it’s an activity that can take place
anywhere, in or out of school.

In October 2019, we published our #CanCompose report, drawing on the

results of our National Educator’s Survey. In our survey, 97% of
respondents agreed that composing should be a core part of every young
person’s music education, and 96% of respondents valued the positive
impact that creating their own music can have on young people’s sense of
identity and wellbeing.

Yet respondents were almost unanimously in agreement (97%) that there

are insufficient opportunities for young people to compose or create their
own music. Between them, our they shared over 600 barriers faced by
young people, pointing to serious structural deficiencies in how young
people are supported to create their own music.

This might all sound very daunting. How can “serious structural
deficiencies” possibly be overcome? What can any of us as individuals or
organisations do to make things better?

Here are Sound and Music, we’ve been thinking about the first steps…

In the second part of the #CanCompose report, we identified a number

of changes (or outcomes) to help to focus our efforts, alongside 21
recommendations. You can find them in the full report here.

We’ve already talked about the changes that are needed at a policy level;
our Chief Executive Susanna Eastburn MBE gave a brilliant keynote speech
at the Music Mark conference in November 2019 on this topic.

So, in this article I want to focus on the positive changes we should

make, starting with young people themselves and reflecting on their
musical and creative journeys.
In the #CanCompose report, these changes are summarised as:

 More opportunities for young people to compose in and out of school

 More relevant and diverse opportunities to compose
 Improved progression pathways through better networks and
signposting

Also at the Music Mark conference, I ran a session for delegates that spent
some time exploring how the music education sector might better support
young composers. It was interesting to hear from colleagues on how the
three outcomes above might be addressed and, although groups of
delegates were thinking about how to support young people with a range of
different musical interests and approaches, there were clearly some
common themes emerging from the ideas and experience in the room.

A second, very useful source of information I have drawn on are the

evaluation forms and focus group transcripts gathered during our annual
Summer School for young composers.

We’ve taken the emerging themes from both sources to draft some guiding
principles, shaped by the needs and interests of young people themselves.
 Principles for Composing in Music Education:

We need to talk to young people to find out what their musical intentions
are, what music do they want to compose? Where, how, and who with? This
will ensure that young people are engaged and connected with the music they
are creating, enabling them to develop their musical voices and shape their
own musical journeys.

Young people should receive support and guidance from at least one
educator (who might be a teacher, a mentor, an industry specialist or a
professional composer) who has the skills and expertise to support their
creative learning, and knowledge of possible progression routes. This will
mean that young people can learn, acquire new musical and cognitive skills
and find their own, personal progression pathways.

A variety of individual progression routes should be available and accessible

to young people. This is in recognition that young people have different
creative journeys depending on their interests, needs and motivations.

Young people should be able to connect with other young composers and
performers. This will mean that young composers and music creators have a
peer group to create music with and don’t feel isolated.

Young people should have access to the resources they need including live
musicians, software, recording studios and assistive technology. This is
because young people need the tools to create and share their music.

Music educators should be networked through their local music education

hubs to other music education providers including arts organisations, youth
organisations, Higher and Further Education institutions. This will enable
progression opportunities to be spotted and signposted, and gaps in provision
to be filled.

The development of creative music skills should start early as part of the
curriculum in early years and primary schools. This will mean that children’s
natural creativity is nurtured, and they experience all the positive effects that
our respondents identified.
 Dive Deeper into Music

We would love to know your feedback on these principles, to hear

about your experiences and to better understand what has worked
well for you! We have learned so much from our #CanCompose
respondents and the value of sharing £45
our experiences
per person cannot be
underestimated.
Limited places available

Contact Sound and Music here:

http://www.soundandmusic.org/knowledge-hub/contact-us
 Half-day course for
primary music subject leaders
on curriculum design,
delivery & assessment, and
the new Ofsted Framework.

18th March 2020

Central London

For more information and booking visit:

https://musiceducationsolutions.co.uk/products-page-3/courses-available/music-deep-dive/
Sponsored Content

ISM Trust: Primary Music Toolkit

Pioneering music educator Dr Alison Daubney writes for the ISM

Trust about the award-winning Primary Music Toolkit, winner of
the Excellence in Primary/Early Years award at the Music Teacher
Awards 2019

The ISM Trust’s Primary Music Toolkit, accessed by almost 10,000

teachers since its launch in 2017, was the first digital tool of its kind for
non-specialist and specialist primary classroom music teachers. It has
been built with the everyday working teacher in mind: for mobile and
tablets to provide easy accessibility for teachers while on the move.

Research of music teaching repeatedly demonstrates that many primary school teachers feel under
confident to teach music. This is unsurprising when we consider that trainee teachers receive a
pitiful amount of input relating to music teaching within their training year – if any at all.
However, music is a compulsory subject in the National Curriculum, which still applies in the
majority of primary schools in England, and is integral to the ‘broad and balanced’ curriculum that
Ofsted are clear they want to see. We have a clear mandate from the government that this means it
should be taught regularly as part of the curriculum.

In a bid to help primary school teachers to better understand what music teaching is and how it
could be utilised even more to bring the primary curriculum to life, the ISM Trust, supported by
the Schools Music Association (SMA), commissioned the development of a Primary Music Toolkit.

The point of the toolkit is to explore ideas about what musical learning is and how teachers can
gain confidence to lead inspiring musical experiences. It is packed with practical help, such as how
to set up a classroom and ways to get musical instruments in and out, along with strategies to get
attention back to you in a busy and productively noisy room, how to encourage creative
exploration on instruments and technologies and strategies for teaching a song.

It absolutely isn’t about reinventing the wheel – it signposts a variety of other resources and ideas
and does not promote one style or method of music education over another. Instead, it is about
promoting sound (pardon the pun) pedagogical ideas that can help teachers to plan inspiring
music education. The toolkit sits alongside the guidance on planning, assessment and progression
authored by Ally Daubney and Martin Fautley and freely downloadable from
ismtrust.org/resources

The singing part of the toolkit is written collaboratively with Sing Up, the award-winning
organisation with a wealth of experience in leading singing in primary schools across the country.

The toolkit is overwhelmingly practical and many of the ideas

embedded will help primary teachers to spread the magic of
music through their inspiring curriculum and to permeate the
cultural fabric of their schools.

The toolkit can be accessed at:

www.ismtrust.org/primary-toolkit
Why don’t schools teach music?
Thoughts on challenges, changes & obstacles

At every music education event that I go to, and almost every time I open
Twitter, someone is complaining that ‘most primary schools don’t teach
music.’ As someone who spent three years of their life as a researcher, this
immediately concerns me as I know that there is as yet no empirical
evidence to support this theory. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence
about schools who don’t teach music, but there are no underlying reliable
nationwide figures to ‘prove’ that this is the majority of schools.

I also hear regularly the cry of alarm ‘most schools don’t even have a music
specialist’ as if this were a bad thing. However, not having a music
specialist does not mean music is not being taught, or that it is not being
taught well. And conversely, having a music specialist does not necessarily
mean that music is being taught well, since there is no agreed set of
criteria to become a ‘music specialist’ beyond simply calling yourself one.
Even if you have a great music specialist, this is not the most sustainable
model for music teaching. It relies on the budget to pay for this specialist
teaching being available every year, and it also results in the rest of the staff
becoming de-skilled with teaching music. If the budget is squeezed too far
not only do you lose your specialist provision, but also you don’t have the
skills to replace it in-house. So ‘not having a music specialist’ might
actually be a good thing if you have committed and enthusiastic class
teachers including music in their timetable instead.

I think what I find most disturbing about the above suppositions is that
they are often delivered in a tone which suggests that schools are somehow
at fault for ‘not teaching music.’ However, it is important to remember that
schools don’t ‘avoid’ teaching music out of malice, or a desire to harm our
children’s education! There are two key external factors which have caused
some schools to abandon music teaching.

1. Inadequate training in ITE / ITT

2. A lack of attention from Ofsted / DfE

It is well-known and often discussed that the majority (and in this case
there is empirical evidence to support that claim) of Initial Teacher

By Dr Elizabeth Stafford
Director, Music Education Solutions

Education / Training provision does not provide adequate support for the
development of music teaching skills. Therefore, through no fault of their
own, the majority of NQTs begin their careers without the skills or
confidence to teach music, joining the ranks of seasoned teachers at their
schools who also lack those skills and confidence as they came through the
same system! And so the problem perpetuates! There is at present no
national agreed provision or plan for in-service teacher training, therefore
it is up to individual teachers and schools to decide whether or not to
source training for music teaching, which relies on availability, budget, and
time. (I should point out that the lack of adequate music provision in ITE /
ITT is similarly nothing to do with providers’ desire to harm children’s
education, but has everything to do with the next issue that we will
discuss below).

For years, Ofsted and the DfE have driven schools into the position of
prioritising ‘core’ subjects at the expense of all other subjects, through
inspection foci, league tables, SATs data and so on. In 2013 Ofsted
attempted to palm off the responsibility for curriculum music onto hubs,
after successive triennial music reports showed no improvement in the
teaching of music. Unsurprisingly there was an outcry, but gradually
hubs, with the support of ACE began to attempt this role, despite it not
being in their original remit. However, despite hubs’ best efforts, the
rumblings about schools not teaching music or ‘not engaging’ with their
hubs continued. Of course, this was entirely predictable, as it is not a
statutory requirement for schools to ‘engage’ with their music education
hub (nor should it be). In addition, schools were already being sent the
message directly from the DfE and Ofsted (intentionally or not) that
music was ‘not important’ in comparison to the core subjects, thereby
undermining the work of the hubs.

However, in an entirely predictable turn of events, the recent change in

the Ofsted inspection framework now means that schools are not being
forced to focus just on the core subjects, and this has opened up a whole
new world of music provision in primary schools. Our Dive Deeper into
Music courses are selling out everywhere, and are attended by a
significant number of Head Teachers as well as music subject leads.
Schools are ready and willing to embrace music teaching, and keen to
seek out the tools and methods to do it. Most schools we have engaged
with are delighted that they are finally able to take music ‘seriously’ as a
significant part of the curriculum. They recognise that there is a skill and
confidence gap in the workforce as regards teaching music, but are
actively looking for ways to overcome this now that they have the backing
of Ofsted.

Of course there is still work to be done, but this change to me exemplifies

the fact that schools aren’t ‘deliberately’ not teaching music. They have
simply been scrambling to please Ofsted and the DfE for fear of the
consequences, but now the goalposts have changed in music’s favour. So
please, let’s stop ‘bashing’ schools for their ‘failure’ to teach music!
Diving deeply into music -
how does this feel?
Beth Brimmicombe
When I first heard that ‘deep dives’ in music were to become a part of
Ofsted inspections, I felt very positive that music would be a step closer to
becoming a priority for every child in every school. Music education is not
just a ‘nice to have’ - it has always been an entitlement for our children
since the introduction of the National Curriculum. I am fortunate to work
in a school where this has long been recognised by school leaders and
school governors. The introduction of the EIF in September 2019 means
that schools are now being held to account for the breadth of the
curriculum that is on offer, including music. As an advocate of the
importance of music education, this can only be a positive step for all our
children.

Preparing for a deep dive in music

As keen as I was for inspectors to see and experience the quality of music
provision within our school, I still experienced a moment of nerves when
I learned that I would take part in my first music deep dive as part of our
school’s inspection at the beginning of December.

When we are preparing for inspection, we can often feel that inspectors
will want to talk to us about what we are doing as curriculum leads. Now
that I’ve been through the process, I realise that inspectors want to listen,
to look and to learn so that they gain the evidence they need to help give
them a clear and accurate picture of what is happening for pupils, for ALL
pupils, as part of the curriculum provision for music across the school. It’s
good if you are ready to talk about this.

Deep dive day - what was it like?

Each deep dive includes a discussion with the subject lead, lesson visits,
discussion with pupils, discussion with teachers in lessons seen (which in
this case was just me!), and evidence of pupils’ learning.

Lesson Visit 1 - Year 2

As I was teaching at the very start of the day, I was observed teaching
music before I had my more detailed discussion with the inspector.
(Normally this meeting would take place before lesson visits, but the
organisation of my own timetable meant we had to work around this.) Just
before the pupils arrived, I had a short conversation with the inspector who
asked ‘why this lesson now?’. This gave me an immediate opportunity to
explain the learning that had led us to today’s lesson, the outcomes I was
expecting from this lesson and how this would lead to the learning in the
next lesson. The inspector was then able to see in practice what we had just
discussed.

Meeting with the inspector

Later that morning, I met with the inspector as the Music Lead. I took with
me all the documents and evidence I wanted to share of pupils learning,
curriculum planning and approaches to assessment.

To begin with, we talked around the curriculum for music at our school and
how this had been developed, building on the expectations of the National
Curriculum for music. This is something we had been working on over a
number of years at our school; our plans show how knowledge and skills are
sequenced so that, over time, all pupils develop a deeper knowledge and
understanding of music and can apply their knowledge and skills in
increasingly demanding contexts.

Next, I showed how this relates to ongoing assessment so that I am clear

that what I teach next builds on the skills and knowledge that pupils have
gained, within lessons and over time. I also shared our collection of music
evidence. I, together with class teachers, update an online folder for each
cohort which contains video, audio and photographic evidence of work
(such as graphic scores, performances of compositions, demonstration of
reading notation in whole-class African Drumming lessons).

Once we had explored the curriculum in detail, its sequencing of

knowledge, skills and conceptual understanding, how it enables pupils to
know more, remember more and apply their learning in a range of musical
contexts, I had the opportunity to talk about wider opportunities for mu-
sic within our school. This is where music contributes not only to the
Quality of Education aspects of the inspection but also how music is part
of the school’s provision to support pupils' Personal Development.

I spoke about our three weekly singing assemblies (I lead sessions for
Years 1 & 2, for 3 & 4, and for 5 & 6) and how these are also planned with
progression, applying taught skills to extend musical experience within a
larger group. I explained how these sessions lead to our annual ‘Big Sing’
event which involves every pupil in the school from Reception to Year 6.
We talked about the importance of participation in music to support
pupils’ self-discipline, teamwork and resilience, and how musical
performance helps prepare pupils for managing situations when they
find themselves beyond their comfort zone. Our two choirs, which
rehearse beyond the school day, are open to any child in years 3-6 who
wants to take part and develop their skills - for anyone who just wants to
sing more!

Children experiencing and participating in live music beyond their own

community is also a vital part of their musical and cultural development.
I spoke about how we support this through participation in events such
as the Scratch Youth Messiah & Primary Proms at the Royal Albert Hall,
Young Voices (where every child in Years 4-6 has an opportunity to
participate), visits to the school by professional instrumental ensembles,
and asking our peripatetic instrumental teachers, all professional
musicians, to play a piece during our regular instrumental assemblies.

I was asked about the instrumental lesson timetables that the inspector
had seen on the music room notice board. We spoke about the numbers
of pupils who participate in lessons (60% of pupils in Key Stage 2), about
the proportion of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special
educational needs and disabilities who take part in individual or group
instrumental lessons, and the level of financial support provided for this
through additional funding such as the pupil premium. We also have a
band in school which we established to extend the experience of pupils
pupils who are interested in music and for those pupils for whom there
are barriers to wider participation in music outside school. I was also able
to talk about how our curriculum provides stretch and challenge for pu-
pils whose involvement in and enthusiasm for music means that they are
already more advanced in some aspects of music learning than their
peers.

Lesson visit 2 - Year 5

After lunch, the inspector returned to observe a lesson with Year 5. This
time the pupils were mostly working creatively in small groups; the
inspector spent some time talking with the children about their musical
learning. She also spoke to a group of these pupils back in their classroom
following this lesson about their experience of music at our school.

Discussion following the lesson visits

Later in the day I met again with the inspector to discuss what she had
observed in lessons. ‘Why this lesson now?’ was a key aspect of our
discussion. We also picked up on other observations she had made in
lessons. At our school class teachers are always present in lessons. This is a
strategic decision by school leaders and the inspector asked me about the
value of this. The reason for this is that we value the opportunity that
class teachers have to observe their pupils in a different setting, being
taught by another practitioner; working together to support the pupils
(plans shared and discussed with teachers to develop teachers’ own
professional understanding of music as a curriculum subject) helps
provide a coherent experience for pupils. It also supports what we call
‘curriculum connectedness’ - relating the teaching of music more widely
to other curriculum areas. We are also keen on developing the musical
skills and experience of the class teachers so that music is also happening
in classrooms - not just in music lessons.

Enabling every pupil to access music and being open and creative in
making this a reality has always been a priority. In bringing this into
discussion I was reassured by the inspector that evidence of this was there
‘in bucket loads’. I didn’t need to talk further. If we make it happen, it’s a
normal part of what we do - the evidence is there!

At the end of the deep dive I reflected that the experience was very
positive. I felt that I had been given the opportunity to talk about all of
the aspects of music in our school with an inspector who engaged with
me and with the pupils in a way that demonstrated real professional
curiosity.

Beth Brimmicombe is a specialist music teacher in a

Buckinghamshire Primary School of 345 pupils where
music is well established as part of a broad and balanced
curriculum and plays an important role within the life of
the school. Her recent experience of inspection under the
new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) has
enabled Beth to celebrate the school’s commitment to
music as part of the curriculum and the wider impact of
music as part of the personal development of each pupil
within her school.
Top tips to prepare for your deep dive as a music lead…

Our music curriculum has been developed over a number of years

and reflects the context of our school. Music is taught by a
specialist music teacher but this isn’t the only way. You could also
buy in a scheme that sequences pupils knowledge and skills and
that gives them an experience of music that at least meets the
expectations of the National Curriculum. Some programmes provide
helpful resources that enable class teachers and non-specialists to
deliver music lessons.

 Be ready to talk about how this at least meets the ambition of

the National Curriculum and how it meets the needs of the
pupils in your school.

 Be ready to demonstrate that music provision is for ALL pupils -

how do you modify or adapt lessons so that pupils with SEND are
equally included? What do you do in your school to ensure that
disadvantaged pupils are supported effectively to access the
broad range of musical opportunities?

 Be ready to talk about training and support for music teaching

within the school.

 Be ready to talk about the part music plays in the culture of the
school and pupils’ personal development.

Inspectors need to see evidence for what you are telling them. It’s
useful to have examples at your fingertips; case studies that you can
talk through, planning documents, examples of pupils’ work. If
you’ve asked for pupils’ feedback or comments about music learning
in school that’s also helpful.
 Whose cultural capital is it anyway?

Dr Elizabeth Stafford explores the multiple definitions of

‘the best that has been thought and said’
When considering ‘the best that has been thought and said’ in English
literature, it would be unlikely that anyone would argue with
Shakespeare and Dickens falling into that category. But you couldn’t
reliably argue that either of these is ‘better’ than Hugo or Goethe because
they come from completely different languages and traditions.

Music is like this too. It is made up of multiple ‘languages’ and traditions,

so despite the national curriculum dropping heavy hints about ‘the great
composers’ one cannot just default to Beethoven and Mozart as our only
form of ‘cultural capital.’ No matter what anyone says, classical music is
not inherently ‘better’ than other forms of music, so to truly extend and
develop our pupils’ cultural capital we need to look beyond the music of
dead white men and embrace the other ‘great composers and musicians’
working across different musical traditions.

Why not look at Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald from the Jazz tradition?
Explore Stephen Sondheim and Lin Manuel Miranda’s work in musical
theatre? Consider the country music of Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton?
Even Ed Sheeran and Gary Barlow could be said to be some of the ‘great
composers’ of the pop music tradition. And of course no debate about
the value of music education these days is complete without a reference
to ‘child of grime’ Stormzy! There are a myriad of options to explore
beyond the confines of the Western Classical tradition.

The national curriculum encourages us to explore a range of musical

traditions, and if we can find the best exponents of each tradition then
we can expand our pupils’ cultural capital at the same time as widening
their appreciation of the musics of the world. It is particularly important
to show that we value our own pupils’ cultures, so when designing our
curriculum we should aim to include musical traditions representative of
the cultural mix of our school population. Alongside this we should also
value our pupils’ own musical interests, whether or not these are linked
to their cultural backgrounds, as this is a powerful motivator as well as a
great way to personalise learning.

In short, in order to truly value the cultural capital of music we need to

respect all forms of music equally, and yes, that does include, but is not
limited to, classical music!
 Songs of Home
How a focus on simplicity makes classroom music more
accessible without compromising on quality

Songs of Home is a
collection of folk songs
from around the world,
created to celebrate the
25th anniversary of the
Voices Foundation. This
free resource was designed
with a specific focus on
accessibility and simplicity
without compromising on
quality. The resource has
been celebrated by
non-specialist teachers
and specialist music
educators alike, and has
been used in
educational settings from
early years to Key Stage 3.
The downloadable pack
includes lyrics, basic
notation for voice and
piano, song descriptions,
lesson ideas, and MP3
audio files. To date, Songs
of Home has been
accessed by over 750
teachers and leaders
across 35 countries
worldwide.
Music belongs to everybody

At Voices Foundation, we understand the challenges of selecting quality

music for the primary school classroom. We are aware of the immense joy
that comes when a group of children are so captured by a piece of music
that it can be heard echoing through school halls, playgrounds, and even
brought into children’s homes. Anyone who has witnessed this will
understand the positive and powerful impact music can have on a child.

When we developed Songs of Home, we set out to collect ten songs from
around the world that would address the repertoire challenge whilst
inspiring a generation of children. These songs needed to be simple and
accessible, but rich in quality and teachable content. Using folk songs to
achieve this was the natural choice as their simple language, short forms,
and often pentatonic style give them an immediacy and familiarity which
make them approachable from the start.

After much deliberation and testing, we identified nine folk songs that we
felt captured these characteristics. As suggested by the title of the
resource, the lyrics in each of these songs focus on one central theme:
‘home’. The tenth and final piece in the pack, ‘Song of Until’, is an original
song written by award-winning composer, David Bruce with lyrics by Glyn
Maxwell. This song was commissioned by Voices Foundation in
collaboration with children and schools to act as a ‘folksong of our time’.
Together, these songs reinforce the idea that ‘Music belongs to everybody’,
a core educational principle of Zoltan Kodály, whose philosophy inspires
much of Voices Foundation’s work.

Since completing his MA in Music Education the UCL

Institute of Education, Daniel Rooney now holds the
position of Learning Officer at Voices Foundation. In this
role, Daniel supports all programme activity including
schools, training courses and the development of new
resources. Daniel coordinates the recruitment and
development of the Voices Foundation practitioner work-
force. Twitter: @voices_found
Rooted in cultural heritage

The ten folk songs in the pack originate from countries including Japan,
Ghana, Brazil, Lebanon and Africa, exploring languages including Twi,
Portuguese, Hebrew and Polish. Engaging with music from around the
world is an enjoyable way for children to build an understanding of the
similarities and differences between communities and their traditions.
Focusing on the idea of ‘home’ can open up discussions of what ‘home’
means for each child and how this is celebrated across the world.

“It shows the children that everyone comes from different

cultures, and in a school with mixed backgrounds it was excellent
not just to do modern English or classical songs, and show that
all heritages are respected and represented”
Classroom Teacher

Reach – Local & Global Impact

The impact of Songs of Home is far greater than we could ever have
imagined. The pack has been downloaded by 750+ individuals in 35
countries across the globe. We’ve seen downloads in 6 of the 7 continents
(still waiting on Antarctica!) and have subsequently been nominated for
the 2020 Music & Drama Education Awards in the 'Outstanding Music
Education Resource' category.

Next Steps

By offering a high quality resource to the public for free, Songs of Home has
helped non-music specialist teachers and music practitioners to lead and
programme choral performances in their schools that highlight the
importance of cultural exchange and the role of folksong in music
education. This resource will remain free to download for the foreseeable
future and we hope its reach continues to grow. Download the pack using
this link.
Voices Foundation has over 25 years of experience working
side-by-side with teachers to help them to develop the
confidence and skills to lead classroom music through sing-
ing. Through the process of intensive teacher development,
their programmes enable schools to embed music into school
life, and act as an agent for whole school improvement. To
learn more about Voices Foundation and the programmes
they offer, visit their website.
 Interview: Susie Riddell
The Archers’ star talks about how experiencing music at a
young age has influenced her life and career.
I suppose my earliest musical memory would be of my mum singing to
me at night. She sang nursery rhymes, Scottish folk songs, and Girl Guide
camp fire songs to me throughout my childhood and teens. And into
adulthood really. If I was unwell or upset, mum’s soothing night time
songs were guaranteed to cheer me up and, even better, send me to sleep!
I now sing every night to my own children.

I also have strong memories of my primary school hall and the percussion
trolley! We had a lovely music teacher and our lessons were fun. There
were the obligatory recorder lessons of course – I actually still remember
one of the tunes we learned!

I always enjoyed singing in assembly. And I have the most fantastic

memory of the whole school playing comb and paper along to ‘When A
Child Is Born’ for one Christmas assembly. It must have been quite a
sound! We thought it was great fun and it was so inclusive – everyone can
play the comb and paper.

I am so grateful that I have music in my life. Singing in choirs, learning

instruments (piano and trombone) and playing in orchestras at primary
and secondary school gave me a love of music that has stayed with me. I
still sing in a choir. The energy and joy it gives me to sing with other
people is difficult to replicate with other activities. And there have been
scientific studies proving that group singing improves health and
prolongs life! I also met my husband at choir so I can thank music for my
family too! My musical skills have enabled me to work as an
actor-musician, touring the UK in stage productions. And so many
productions require actors who can sing. I also played my trombone on a
radio drama for BBC Radio 4 recently. Music has given me career
opportunities that would have passed me by.

I think music education in schools is vital. Children gain so much from

singing, playing, and listening and responding to music. It unlocks
creativity and movement. I believe that human beings have a need for
music – babies love music from day one. And with a music education
from a young age, children are given the opportunity to learn something
that will benefit them throughout their entire lives. I've already praised
the health benefits of singing in choirs - these apply to children too. And
encourages them to work as a team, and to listen.

As the mother of a primary-aged child, I've been heartened by hearing

the songs my daughter has been learning at school! She's in Reception at
the moment, and is keen to start learning a musical instrument in Year 1
so we'll see what takes her fancy when the time comes. She loves singing
at home and I hope she'd like to join the school choir in Year 1 too. If she's
able to enjoy music in primary school, I'd hope that she is able to take
this enjoyment on to secondary school and beyond into adulthood. I will
be forever grateful to my school music teachers for being so encouraging,
inclusive and most of all, patient!

Susie Riddell trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music

and Drama. She plays Tracy Horrobin in The Archers on BBC Radio 4
and has twice been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company.
Her extensive radio work includes major roles in Ulysses,
Frankenstein, and The Great Gatsby. Theatre includes roles at The
Old Vic, Bristol Old Vic, Tobacco Factory, and Birmingham Rep. TV
includes Gavin & Stacey, Doctors, Emmerdale and Saxondale. Susie is
also co-Artistic Director of the theatre company, Idiot Child, and a
co-producer with Dot Dash Productions. Susie enjoys playing piano
and trombone, and she sings with the City of London Choir. She lives
in London with her husband and two young children.
 Primary Music Magazine is brought to you by Music Education Solutions

Grove House
Coombswood Court As well as publishing Primary Music Magazine, we also offer training and
Steel Park Road
development opportunities for teachers worldwide, either live or online. Visit
Halesowen
our website to find out more about the courses and qualifications that we
Phone:07570455887 offer, and how we can support your school to become even better at deliver-
Email: liz@musiceducationsolutions.co.uk
ing music education!

Never miss an issue!

Join our mailing list here and follow us on Twitter here

We are always interested

in hearing from teachers
who have stories and
ideas to share.

If you would like to write

for our next issue please
get in touch via the link
above!

Our next issue 4.2 is out in June 2020 — see you then!