School Leaders as Music Educators

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. Clear messages emerged about the value of music in the eyes of school leaders, about ways in which heads can draw on Ofsted’s subject-specific guidance to support their music specialists (see http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/generic-grade-descriptors-and-supplementary-subject-specific-guidance-for-inspectors-making-judgemen), and about routes for influencing the decisions that heads take concerning music.

Ofsted’s new inspection framework was a major item for discussion. (The framework is currently a draft, but is just awaiting time in Parliament for ratification before January.) Music is the only foundation subject mentioned by name in the new framework, forming part of the judgment on the overall effectiveness of a school. (It is also implicit in the judgment on the quality of leadership as part of a broad and balanced curriculum). The way in which schools promote an “appreciation of music” (which is not the same as musical appreciation) will thus form a central part of the evaluation of a school. The framework can be found at http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/draft-framework-for-school-inspection-january-2012 if you are interested in reading it in more detail.

The meeting with headteachers is an example of how NAME is seeking to work more closely with other organisations. The meeting was made possible by Music for Youth, who not only provided the room but invited our guests to the Schools Prom in the evening. This was an impressive occasion, enabling our guests to see the benefits of taking part in the MfY Regional Festivals, not just the national showcase. The meeting also forms part of NAME’s collaboration with FMS and ISM on a campaign to promote the role that great music plays in great schools. Further information on this campaign was given in the recent edition of Postbag, and details will soon be available about how you can become involved.

Of course the big thing that didn’t happen this week was the launch of the National Plan for Music Education. I had been delaying writing this blog in the hope that there would be something to say about the Plan. In the event, the only thing to say is that it is rather like waiting for a bus: the longer you wait, the more likely it is to arrive. The delay to this particular bus is particularly frustrating because so much is resting on its arrival for so many music teachers, many of whom are members of NAME. In the meantime, Youth Music have launched their new funding model (see http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/) with a deadline of 1 December. So while you wait for the Plan, there is always another bid to write...

James Garnett

11 November 2011