Blogs

OK, so it isn’t new anymore. But the pace of change continues relentlessly. In this blog I will have a quick look at some of the key policy issues that will be shaping our lives over the next 11 months.

The Framework for the National Curriculum, published today (click here to view it), backs up the position of music in schools set out in the National Plan for Music Education.

This is the message that NAME, FMS and ISM are promoting in our joint approach to advocacy for music education. Through it, all three organisations commit to the importance of high-quality provision of music education for all children through the school curriculum. It is a message that I believe NAME can take pride in, and this why...

Well, it has arrived. NAME will be producing a digest of the Plan in the near future, so I won’t attempt that here. There will also, no doubt, be comments on it to be found on NAME’s new Facebook site, so do check these and add your own thoughts. In the spirit of a blog, here are some personal reflections on the implications the Plan might have for NAME members.

A Bold Vision

It is not every day that headteachers take an afternoon out of their busy schedules in order to talk about music education. But that is exactly what happened on Tuesday this week. Three primary and three secondary heads, from as far away as Tiverton in Devon, took up an invitation from NAME to come to a meeting at the Royal Albert Hall. We were joined by Mark Philips from Ofsted with a view to identifying the key messages to communicate to other headteachers about the impact that high-quality music education can have on their schools.

My second week as Chair has thrown me in at the deep end in almost every respect (except the literal one - I haven’t been swimming!) The week started with workshops on Musical Futures with my PGCE and GTP students at Reading, in which they experienced the “In at the deep end” model of informal learning for themselves.  (Want to know more?

All the NAME conferences I have attended have been memorable.  This year's has left a particular impression, because I have come away with a renewed sense of what the organisation is about (as well as coming away as Chair).  Each of the keynotes, each of the breakout sessions I went to, the regional and focus group meetings, and each of the conversations I had over lunch and coffee reinforced this sense of identity.  Each revolved around a deep concern for the quality of music education experienced by children and young people.

The annual NAME conference takes place at the end of the week, with the opportunity to network and gain inspiration for the year ahead from the workshops, keynotes and discussions. Musical Pathways are many and various and we should keep open all the different ways to engage with music. Keeping an open mind to new possibilities in the field of technology and new musical ideas from exciting collaborations between musicians.

The Summer holidays are almost upon us, and as yet no Music Plan but a consultation should take place during August; no rest for the wicked! In the meantime we need to keep up our resolve and really interrogate what makes up the vital components of a good music education.   There are still areas of the music education forest that need a bit of investigating, we can always improve and I fear that there is still complacency and acceptance of mediocrity in some quarters.

Cultural Education, music hubs and NYO auditions!

The unceasing calls for evidence  on one review or another has brought about review fatigue. It seems as if the Government is trying to batter us into submission! However we battle onwards and continue to make representation. The evidence for the review of Cultural Education has just been submitted and NAME is arguing for a holistic education :