The good news

The best music in schools is significantly more inclusive, more musically diverse, and better quality than it was a decade ago.

Around two thirds of online survey¹ respondents (teachers) reported that in their schools all pupils participate in some way in music – and in a wide range of musical styles and genres – and that there are regular opportunities for pupils to perform their music making. There are pockets of excellent practice all over the country in which children and young people are having a joyful, inspiring, musical time; regularly achieving personal bests and high standards through diverse and dynamic music learning opportunities.

Examples of these include:

• The positive impact of well-structured whole class instrumental teaching and ensemble music-making on inclusion and musical progress; (e.g. through positive school/Hub partnerships)
• The effectiveness of focused partnership strategies for KS2/3 Transition (e.g.through Musical Bridges);
• The effectiveness of pupil-centred creative learning practices (e.g. through Musical Futures);
• The impact of singing as a tool for learning and whole school development in primary (e.g. through Sing Up);
• The value of music to pupils with SEND (e.g. through Drake Music², Sounds of Intent³ ) or living in challenging circumstances (e.g. through Youth Music);
• The integration of digital technology including mobile devices into classroom practice (e.g. through Musical Futures, some Music Hubs and independent providers)
• The contribution of Sistema-type immersive orchestral ensemble programmes to pupil engagement and school culture (e.g. through In Harmony, MISST⁴);
• The value of partnerships in offering a rich range of musical experiences and role models within and beyond the classroom (e.g. through many ACE-funded National
• Portfolio Organisations and others across the country; including orchestras, venues and community music organisations).

There is general consensus that the aims and recommendations in the National Plan for Music Education are sound and should be implemented. There is strong potential to use it more effectively as a focus for national and local level planning, professional development and partnership building.

Contributors were clear about what’s working:

“There are schools where teacher confidence is high. These teachers identify and take part in debate, participate in networks and connections – and we know that the people who network are the people who do well. They become the more effective ones who are making a difference; visionary individuals who have clear philosophy about music education and are working to it.”

“…It really works when the framework is put in place for children to make their own musical decisions and the support is given for that kind of musical decision making – then progression is good and the staying with it is secured and supported. We are seeing some tremendous stuff across all genres and traditions within schools  there kids are given this support and they are absolutely flourishing…”

“Some teachers are really pioneering the use of internet and social media, using videos and recording and blogs, to track students’ musical progress – including sometimes surprising the students themselves…”

In Music Hubs that have organised themselves purposefully to fully realise the intentions of the NPME, real benefit is being reported for pupils and schools in terms of range, reach and quality of music learning opportunities. Innovative approaches to collaboration are creating new professional alliances, unlocking new resources and stimulating best practice.

“…We now have a really good choir – involving children from all 7 schools in one of our clusters…they go on tour performing in all the schools in the cluster…a really positive collaboration, organised by one lead Head, coordinators in the schools, and one Hub lead.”

In one region, all six Music Hubs have come together with their regional Bridge organisation and other partners to develop a pan-regional approach to identifying and supporting young musical talent across local authority and organisational boundaries. In another:

“Four of the five music hubs in our region have an idea for running our own In Harmony-style project: In Tune. In Harmony already runs a programme in the fifth Hub in our region and we are liaising with them in order to learn from their experience. We are looking at developing the idea of group instrumental teaching both in and out of school time every afternoon over two years in schools that are serving  children in challenging circumstances. We’ve all pledged to put some money into it, and have worked with an independent community music organisation to attract some matched funding. We will identify one school in each area to benefit from the programme and our Bridge organisation are on board to do the monitoring and impact measurement. As well as making a difference for the children we are tryingto generate evidence compelling enough to show the power and impact of the transformation that can come through music.”

The new School Music Education Plans now required of Hubs⁵ will put in place robust frameworks ensuring schools can access appropriate advice and guidance on improving quality of teaching, raising standards in music and increasing participation, focusing on both within- and beyond-the-classroom activities.

Most teachers have high aspirations for their pupils and their schools and are eager to drive improvement. Where there are good links between in-school and out-of-school activities and the practitioners leading them, the powerful impact of music on children and young people’s lives is strengthened and sustained through these partnerships. Youth Music’s support for inclusion in and through music is valuable and vital, and they are about to launch a new long-term programme (Exchanging Notes⁶) looking at how to bring the insights from the work they’ve helped catalyse and develop with young people in challenging circumstances outside of schools to bear on inclusive strategies within schools.

“Great examples exist of total inclusion – where there is no idea of anyone NOT being a musician….it’s to do with the fact the people are doing musical things together, not playing keyboards in pairs against the wall. They are making musical experiments, playing in bands, finding things out.”

“…(X) is doing brilliant work with disadvantaged children through a group of schools, singly in twos and threes and sixes and producing increased agency, attention – and joyful music making – really seeing the light shining in children’s eyes. This unique as a way of a school or schools addressing suffering and disengagement through music and there should be more of it.”

“Our partnership with (a major ACE funded music organisation) has completely transformed music in our school. The visiting musicians have helped us to see that our children have amazing talent and ability to concentrate and succeed in music that we’d really underestimated – and it’s changing the whole way school feels because there is so much music everywhere….and the teachers are all excited about doing it themselves.”

There is a growing national and international evidence base that can be drawn on for exemplars, impacts and innovative strategies to support good practice⁷. There are some important developments in teacher networking and CPD – in particular, the two pilot programmes now being set up through the London Schools Excellence Fund⁸, and the work of the DfE Expert Panel on Music ITE in synthesising resources for primary CPD England’s teacher education providers. The emergence of Musical Futures online professional network is an innovative contribution to the field of teacher peer-topeer CPD with potential for development, and Teaching Music and Youth Music Network offer examples of potentially valuable online environments for peer networking⁹.

The major funded interventions of the last decade – Sing Up, Wider Opportunities/ WCIVT and Musical Futures – have had positive impacts on children, young people and schools when implemented as intended, including effective support for teacher leadership and CPD.

“…98% of schools got back in touch after their first WCIVT programme with us…. there’s a real keenness to keep music on the curriculum” “We are doing much better on inclusion and diversity than we were doing a decade ago – Sing Up, Wider Opps, and Musical Futures have had great impact. In terms of holistic engagement we are in a much better place than we’ve ever been before”

“Partnership between students and teachers in Musical Futures are the cornerstone of everything. It’s all about that in the classroom – everyone learning from everyone else, including teachers learning from students. The teacher’s role becomes facilitative – working on musical and social outcomes hand in hand through cooperation “

Whilst the sector leadership situation remains confused, there are clear indications that the major professional associations in the field – Music Education Council, Incorporated Society  for Musicians, Music Mark, Sound Sense, Musicians Union – do recognise that this issue needs urgent resolution. At the time of writing, consultation processes involving all of these bodies were about to commence, aimed at creating a stronger sector-wide representationand leadership framework. This is designed to support clearer articulation of professional standards, stimulation of professional networking and debate, dissemination of innovation and best practice and consistent advocacy for the power of music in young people’s lives. There are also early signs that changing school arrangements are stimulating new kinds of partnership through trusts and federations, with secondary and primary schools working closely together in fresh and more structured ways.

Most important, the issues and challenges reported in the next section are understood and acknowledged by many colleagues in the field, and there is general consensus that they need to be tackled by collective sector-wide effort rather than by more top-down initiatives. There is a real appetite across the sector for a distributed leadership approach – ‘working nationally locally’¹⁰  to a shared national vision and purpose.

“Overall I suppose  nationally that music education is still, in comparison, taken pretty seriously compared to some of the other artforms in education….music education has had a pretty good innings over the last fifteen years….there are some challenges, but this is the opportunity to do it better.”