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www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
Contents
West of England Music Education Conference
2016-17 Music Service Singing, CPD & Enrichment Offer
New Guidance for Governors
Charanga Survey of Music in Schools Findings
BBC Music Day: Nearly there!
The Importance of Music according to The Humanist.com
DfE Data Return Findings
Nick Gibb: Why good-quality music education matters
Music Education Partnership:
North Somerset
…of possible interest?
Your regular update of what is going on musically in North Somerset and the surrounding area that may be of interest to you, your setting or your pupils.
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk April 2016
April 2016
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
West of England Music Education Conference Booking has just opened for the ever popular West of England Music Education Conference (formerly known as the Bath Spa Music Conference). This year the Conference takes place on 1st July at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College, Wise Campus. Delegates will… • be able to take ideas away to use back
in the classroom, • be invigorated by stimulating
practitioners, • have networking opportunities, • learn new techniques, • have the opportunity to chat, browse and buy from the exhibitors stands. This stimulating event is aimed at Primary and EY teachers. We are very pleased that the Keynote address will be given by Professor Susan Hallam MBE, who will explore the holistic value of music in schools which links to a new film soon to be launched by our very own Churchill Music! There will be workshops led by Sue Nicholls, Richard Frostick, Kate Courage, Tim Parker, Mike Spiers, Phil Heeley, Matthew Hemson, Inspire Works and our very own Roger Sansom! Workshops will include KS1: Excite, Engage & Embed - Singing With Your Hands – Creating & Leading A Primary Ensemble – World Voice –– Music in the Early Years – A School Ukulele Group – Garageband Update – Advanced Charanga – Singing in Harmony & Creative iPads plus the opportunity for delegates to share their own success in a series of ‘Take 5’ Delegate Presentations. More information about the workshops and facilitators can be obtained by clicking here and the booking form can be accessed here. Our colleagues over the border in South Gloucestershire are processing the application forms for the region as they did last year, so please send completed applications, and payments indicating which workshops you wish to attend directly to their address as shown on the form. The full cost of the Conference is £75 but booking before 1st June will mean you are charged the discounted rate of just £55!
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
2016-17 Music Service Singing, CPD & Enrichment Offer The Music Service’s Music CPD, Singing and Enrichment offers for 2016-17 will be published in the first week of May. The brochures below will be emailed directly to Music Co-ordinators, Heads of Music and Headteachers.
The initial deadline for booking is 11th July. All of the popular Enrichment Workshops are still on offer, as are all of the successful singing events. The CPD offer has evolved a little, and one change that we hope will prove popular is the option to book Music CPD for groups of teachers from Federations or Clusters of schools. For example instead of running a workshop for a few teachers from a particular Key Stage or year group in a school, all of the teachers from that phase in a group of schools can come together for the session.
We have really simplified booking onto events for next year’s activities. When you view the three brochures, next to each activity is a ‘click here to book’ symbol. Clicking will take you straight to the appropriate for which you can complete and submit instantly! Another minor development to draw attention to is that the cancellation policy described on the back of each brochure is now in line with the Learning Exchange policy, to avoid confusion.
New Guidance for Governors Music Mark has collaborated with the National Governors' Association and Arts Council England to create a guidance document for governors in schools. The document provides structured questions looking at five areas of guidance:
Values and Ethos,
Opportunities,
Resources,
Teaching
Partnerships.
It then highlights important resources such as the National Plan for Music Education, Music Mark's directory of music services and Ofsted's professional development materials for music. You can download the document here:
Music Education - a guide for governors
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
Charanga Survey of Music in Schools Findings In the past year, two masters’ theses have presented evidence that schools using the Charanga Musical School programme have experienced a significant improvement in music teaching. These findings confirm Charanga’s own research derived from: • their extensive Music Education Hub and Music Service partnership programme which provides
on-the-ground links to thousands of music teachers and hundreds of thousands of children • more than 2,500 feedback questionnaires completed by teachers during our Musical School CPD &
Training programme • the data produced by over 1 million hours of online Musical School usage by teachers that has
taken place in the past 12 months and which has been accompanied by a steady flow of positive testimonials
To gain additional insight into the effect of Musical School on music teaching, Charanga have also recently completed an extensive survey of Musical School users. The results of this survey not only confirm the findings in the earlier research but provide evidence of a change taking place today in primary music teaching in schools right across the UK. Of most interest to the music education community will be the survey summary below which details the impact in key areas of the profession: teachers’ confidence, quality of teaching, enjoyment of the job, children’s engagement and frequency of teaching. Of course the consequent impact on pupils is of the utmost interest. The total number of music teachers responding to the survey was 852 which was divided into 336 who described themselves as music specialists and 516 who said they were non-specialists.
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
It is clear from the above that Charanga Musical School is having a major impact on key areas of music teaching and learning for all teachers – both specialist and non-specialist. While the response from non-specialists as the group with most to gain from Musical School’s in-depth support, is perhaps unsurprising (though still astonishingly high), the similarly positive response from specialists was less expected. On-the-ground feedback from specialists has often highlighted how children’s increased engagement through Musical School has helped them be more creative. This group also tells us that Musical School helps them to better support their non-specialist colleagues which helps to generate benefits across the whole school. If your schools has not explored Musical School as something they may wish to use go to www.nsmusic4me.org.uk and have a look.
BBC Music Day: The Plan Unfolds! Hopefully instrumentalists across North Somerset are practicing their Habanera and Torreador music for the massive BBC Music Day mix that we are planning! Recordings need to be submitted soon, so if you have a recorded of a school ensemble playing one of the arrangements (or parts of) that we distributed please now think about letting us have the recordings. Recordings can be submitted as MP3 files via email, or you can upload them to a Dropbox or Google Drive type account and email the link or invitation for us to access to [email protected] Alternatively recordings can be burned to CD and posted to the Music Service or given to one of the Music Service visiting teachers to bring into the office. Finally you could save recordings to a memory stick or flash drive and leave at your school Reception and we will pick up and then return to you. The BBC are looking for schools to visit to film a short clip of children practising the pieces or making their final recordings. If you are interested in being put forward for this, please email [email protected] as soon as possible.
The Importance of Music according to The Humanist.com
Recently the Humanist.com published an interesting article about the importance of music, which is worth a read. Here are some extracts that may be of interest. It is quite a long article so to read it in full visit the Humanist.Com’s website. It certainly does remind us why here in North Somerset we are all so passionate about the role of music in our schools!
‘What if there was one activity that could benefit every student in every school across the nation? An activity that could improve grades and scores on standardized testing? An activity that would allow students to form lasting friendships? An activity that would help students become more disciplined and confident?
Fortunately, there is such an activity…. This activity is music.
…Music, however, has proved itself to be extremely beneficial time and time again, from the undeniable improvement in grades regarding traditional academic classes to the glowing remarks from music students
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
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everywhere. In an ever-changing world, the addition of music education in schools needs to be next on the academic agenda. Music education should be a required component in all schools due to the proven academic, social, and personal benefits that it provides…
…Music education greatly enhances students’ understanding and achievement in non-musical subjects. For example, a ten-year study, which tracked over 25,000 middle and high school students, showed that students in music classes receive higher scores on standardized tests than students with little to no musical involvement. The musical students scored, on average, sixty-three points higher on the verbal section and forty-four points higher on the math sections of the SATs than non-music students (Judson). When applying to colleges, these points could be the difference between an acceptance letter and a rejection letter.
Furthermore, certain areas of musical training are tied to specific areas of academics; this concept is called transfer. According to Susan Hallam [who just happens to be the Keynote Speaker at our West of England Music Education
Conference on 1st July!], “Transfer between tasks is a function of the degree to which the tasks share cognitive processes” (5-6). To put this simply, the more related two subjects are, the more transfer will ensue. This can be evidenced with the correlation between rhythm instruction and spatial-temporal reasoning, which is integral in the acquisition of important math skills. The transfer can be explained by the fact that rhythm training emphasizes proportions, patterns, fractions, and ratios, which are expressed as mathematical relations (Judson). Transfer can be seen in other academic subjects as well. For example, in a 2000 study of 162 sixth graders, Ron Butzlaff concluded that students with two or three years of instrumental music experience had significantly better results on the Stanford Achievement Test (a verbal and reading skills test) than their non-musical counterparts (qtd. in Judson). This experiment demonstrates that music can affect improvement in many different academic subjects. All in all, it can be shown that music education is a worthwhile investment for improving students’ understanding and achievement in academic subjects.
Related to academic achievement is success in the workforce. The Backstreet Boys state that, “Practicing music reinforces teamwork, communication skills, self-discipline, and creativity” (Why Music?). These qualities are all highly sought out in the workplace. Creativity, for example, is, “one of the top-five skills important for success in the workforce,” according to Lichtenberg, Woock, and Wright (Arts Education Partnership 5). Participation in music enhances a student’s creativeness. Willie Jolley, a world-class professional speaker, states that his experience with musical improvisation has benefited him greatly regarding business. Because situations do not always go as planned, one has to improvise, and come up with new strategies (Thiers, et. al). This type of situation can happen in any job; and when it does, creativity is key. Similarly, music strengthens a person’s perseverance and self-esteem—both qualities that are essential in having a successful career (Arts Education Partnership 5). Thus, music education can contribute to students’ future careers and occupational endeavors.
Participation in music also boasts social benefits for students. Music is a way to make friends. Dimitra Kokotsaki and Susan Hallam completed a study dealing with the perceived benefits of music; in their findings they wrote, “Participating in ensembles was also perceived as an opportunity to socialize with like-minded people, make new friends and meet interesting people, who without the musical engagement they would not have had the opportunity to meet” (11). Every time a student is involved in music, they have the chance to meet new people, and form lasting friendships.
Likewise, in a study by Columbia University, it was revealed that students who participate in the arts are often more cooperative with teachers and peers, have more self-confidence, and are better able to express themselves (Judson). Through one activity, a student can reap all of these benefits, as well as
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
numerous others. Moreover, the social benefits of music education can continue throughout a student’s life in ways one would never suspect. An example of this would be that “students who participate in school band or orchestra have the lowest levels of current and lifelong use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs among any other group in our society” (Judson). By just participating in a fun school activity, students can change their lives for the better. Music education can help students on their journey to success…
…Furthermore, group participation in music activities can assist in the development of leadership skills (Kokotsaki and Hallam 13). One participant in the perceived benefits of music study stated that, “I have gained confidence in my leadership skills through conducting the Concert Band” (Kokotsaki and Hallam 28). Conducting an ensemble is just one of the many leadership opportunities available to music students.’
DfE Data Return Findings ACE will be publishing the NFER Report this term as they did last last year which presents the data that the Music Service provided the DfE with on your behalf in October, as did Hubs from across the nation. Once again we will produce a document comparing our performance in North Somerset with the National figures. Nick Gibb has also instructed, in line with DfE transparency and accountability requirements, that a certain amount of data be published (following the publication of the NFER Report ) on a Music Education Hub by MEH basis. This will be very interesting and allow us to compare our success with statistical neighbours. On behalf of all Hubs Music Mark have outlined some concerns regarding the validity of some data submitted by some Hubs and have explained that local context is key to an informed understanding of the ‘data story.’ This does not particularly concern us in North Somerset because overall we have a good story to tell, however it will interesting to see the data when it emerges.
Nick Gibb MP (Minister for Education): Why good-quality music education matters… Recently Nick Gibb gave a speech in which he shared his views on Music Education. Here are some quotes, which express his main points… “I have enormous admiration for the work of music teachers: passing on a knowledge of and passion for music - of all forms - to new generations. I look back with great fondness and gratitude to the early exposure to music that I received as a child.”
*** “An initiative from last year that the department helped achieve, and that I was delighted to see occur, was the Classical 100 music app - launched by the ABRSM in collaboration with Classic FM and Decca. This is a new digital resource, designed and made freely available to all primary schools. It includes recordings of 100 classical pieces of music composed over 10 centuries, ranging from children’s classics such as ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘Carnival of the Animals’, to works such as Beethoven’s ‘Fifth Symphony’ and Handel’s ‘Messiah’. The recordings are supplemented by digital teaching resources, including information about the composers and the stories behind the music.”
*** “For me, the Classical 100 encapsulates 2 vital principles for music education in our schools. Firstly, ensuring that it is of a high quality. And secondly, ensuring that it is made available to all children, irrespective of birth or background.
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk email: [email protected]
Tel: 01934 426430
www.nsmusic4you.org.uk
Due to our focus on increasing the uptake of EBacc subjects at GCSE, the government has been accused by some of damaging the status of arts in schools. This is absolutely not the case. I make no apologies for our belief that more schools should be offering a core academic curriculum to their pupils up to the age of sixteen. But there is no reason why this should imperil the status of arts subjects such as music: both can and should coexist in any good school.”
*** “Music education hubs ensure that every child in England has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through weekly whole-class ensemble teaching programmes. Music education hubs also ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable, and many hubs subsidise the cost of lessons for pupils. Under this programme, any budding seeds of musical passion that young children have will not remain buried and unnurtured. I hope that in years to come, adults with a passion for music will have the work of music hubs to thank for first introducing them to musical performance.”
*** “When it comes to provision of music education, the government believes in equity, but it also believes in excellence. Talented young musicians need the opportunity to make music with others of a similar standard, and access to selective ensembles and demanding repertoire. The music education hubs provide high-quality borough or county-wide ensembles and signpost the most talented toward specialist provision.”
*** “Important though it is, playing an instrument is not the only aspect of a good music education. Music is also an academic subject, and the new national curriculum ensures that it will be taught as such. It sets the expectation that pupils will perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of great composers and musicians. By the time they leave key stage 3, children from all backgrounds should be prepared to, if they wish, embark on a GCSE course with confidence.”
*** “Our vision for music education in this country can be summed up in 2 words: equity and quality. From their first exposure to the joys of music at a young age, through to providing for the brightest and most talented young musicians, all children deserve to be given the chance to fulfil their musical potential.”
