Summary of 'The Importance of Music - A National Plan for Music Education
1. The DfE & Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) claim that the National Plan shows their ‘unswerving commitment to the importance of music in the lives of young people and to provide music education that is of the highest quality’.
2. Music plays an important role in children’s academic and social development and in improving the ethos of the school.
3. Schools cannot do everything alone: they need the support of a wider local music structure including those from the arts, charity and voluntary sectors.
Elitism
4. More children will have access ‘to the greatest of art forms’, and they will do better as a result in every other subject.
5. Music and Dance Scheme and the National Youth Music Organisations remain the ‘pinnacle of musical achievement to which all children and young people can aspire’.
6. By hubs drawing on partners to offer experiences for pupils outside schools, pupils will be able to take part in broader and more challenging opportunities, including area ensembles. Pupils engaging with these activities would be expected to support their school ensembles and be an inspirational role model for younger pupils.
Music Education Hubs
7. The hubs will take forward the work of local authority music services from September 2012.
8. Local authorities, national, regional and local music/arts organisations may wish to lead or be involved in new music education hubs, and where relevant to apply for hub funding.
9. Schools (including academies and free schools) must work closely with the new music education hub in their area to identify pupil and school needs in music education, and establish how the school (or cluster of schools) and hub can work together to meet these.
10. The hubs will have partnership working at their core.
Funding
11. The National Plan extends to 2020, although the medium-term funding announcements only cover up to 2015.
12. The Department for Education (DfE) will:
• continue to:
- fund music education at significant levels, the vast majority to be invested in hubs;
- fund National Youth Music Organisations to support pupils from lower income families to join elite ensembles
- invest in the Music and Dance Scheme so that exceptionally talented young people have opportunities through specialist music and dance schools, Conservatoires and Centres of Advanced Training.
• give further funding will support the expansion of the In Harmony, Sistema England programme,
• [In Harmony • Sistema England offers children from areas of exceptional deprivation the opportunity to achieve their full potential using the power of music through the symphony orchestra & to have a positive impact on their communities it’s chaired by Andrew Lloyd Webber]
• move toward a per-pupil national funding formula, weighted for free school meals by 2014-15;
13. Funds for music education hubs will be awarded following an open application process run by Arts Council England, which will focus on outcomes for pupils, partnership working and economies of scale.
14. Hubs will also supplement and draw-in local and national funding for music -from local authorities, cultural organisations, businesses, trusts, foundations and philanthropists.
ITT &CPD
15. From summer 2012, the Teaching Agency will develop a new primary Initial Teacher Training add-on module to boost new teachers’ skills and confidence in teaching music. ). It is anticipated that the new ITT modules will include advice and exposure to how technology can contribute to excellence in music teaching.
16. The Arts Council will facilitate development of a music educator qualification by 2013, ensuring the wider music workforce is more professionalised and properly recognised for their role in and out of school.
17. Those teaching music in schools must have adequate professional development opportunities and support networks.
18. Where there is evidence of need, hubs may wish to offer CPD to music educators and teachers in schools in their area on making the best use of music technology.
Entitlement
19. All schools should provide high quality music education as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
20. Each school can decide how to organise their local curriculum to fulfil the statutory programmes of study for music which set out what is to be taught. Schools will want to review how they do this in light of this National Plan and following proposals from the National Curriculum review early in 2012. Schools, however, will be expected to provide high quality music education
21. Music education hubs audit local needs and in collaboration with schools, formulate plans with opportunities that are well-communicated to parents/carers.
22. Many hubs will link with work in the early years, in some cases with hub partners drawing on funding from trusts, foundations or Youth Music [YM has recently launched a funding module supporting music in the early years].
23. Teachers will have wide freedom in how they teach music in schools, but all schools should provide high quality music education as part of a broad and balanced curriculum.
24. Music education is patchy across the country and change is needed to ensure all pupils receive a high quality music education.
25. Children from all backgrounds and every part of England should have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument; to make music with others; to learn to sing; and to have the opportunity to progress to the next level of excellence if they wish to.
26. Whole-class ensemble teaching programmes for ideally a year (but for a minimum of a term); opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform; clear progression routes available and affordable; and for a singing strategy to ensure every child sings regularly.
27. Music benefits the wider life of the school, and so each should have a choir and aspire to having an orchestra or large scale ensemble. Where schools and hubs work in partnership, they can ensure that what schools offer and what the hub offers complement each other.
28. The document lists age-related provision that young people can expect regardless of the outcome of the NC.
29. Similarly hubs will need to consider how children who are:
• looked after;
• Gypsy, Roma or Travellers;
• carers;
• not in education employment or training (NEET);
• educated from home
can have access to music education. In some cases, hubs may be able to access additional funding (not from the government) for capacity-building to meet the needs of such pupils. [Youth Music that has recently launched a funding module focused on children in challenging circumstances including those who are NEET, in the youth justice system, in pupil referral units, or who are looked after.]
Technological developments
30. Music technology will be used to enable, deliver, support and extend the good teaching of music.
31. Schools can improve music teaching through (a) the use of technology; and (b) their teaching of music technology. This will improve music outcomes for all pupils – including those in rural areas who cannot access specialist tuition, and those with special needs and disabilities who are unable to use more traditional instruments.
32. .Although the costs of technology can sometimes be seen as a barrier there are numerous examples of how technology can save money – web-based technology, synthesisers, virtual keyboards, etc.
Accountability
33. Accountability via:
• the fund holder (Arts Council England) monitoring performance of hubs;
• a revised focus for Ofsted music inspections; and
• the views of children, parents/carers and schools taken into account.
• Hubs and schools holding one another to account against
- locally-developed standards for delivery of music education,
- where relevant, drawing on Ofsted's music-specific guidance for inspectors, core hub roles and National Plan benchmarks.
34. A National Plan monitoring board will hold to account those responsible for national-level delivery. This will include a small number of impartial experts, who will hold those responsible for delivery across the National Plan to account, and will be chaired by and answerable to Ministers.
35. High quality leadership of hubs sought as part of the hub application process, to develop productive local partnerships and deliver high quality music education.
36. National Plan should support schools to make better use of music technology to contribute to improved teaching outcomes.
