Overview of findings

The place and status of music in schools – primary and secondary – continues to vary more widely than we should expect of a subject that is part of the statutory curriculum for all children for the first nine years of schooling¹.

In some schools – often those that are judged good or outstanding – music is woven throughout school life and is core to building school communities as well as helping children to
develop their potential in all areas of learning. In others, there is a gulf between the ‘showcase’ culture of school musicals, choirs and bands offered outside of both curriculum and timetable, and a perfunctory delivery of the core curriculum in classrooms. In a third group of schools music is simply invisible and inaudible, with music lessons hardly involving any music-making and little or no energy invested in music outside of the timetable.

The pressures on head teachers and senior leadership teams in schools that underpin this patchy positioning of music are well understood. They stem in part from a focus on raising standards in core curriculum areas; in part from lack of detailed insights into what good schools based music looks like and the positive impact it can have on individual pupils and on whole school improvement, and in part from isolation and a lack of strong external partnerships and advice. There is a dearth of clear, consistent, research based guidance for senior leadership teams about how to deliver the National Curriculum in music at a high standard, and how to work with the opportunities afforded by the NPME to create a holistic, enriched context for young pupil to learn through as well in music.

There is no shortage of passion and commitment from teachers and musicians working with schools, nor from teacher educators, Hub staff and music organisations. However, the structure of initial teacher education isn’t able to support many trainee or beginning primary or secondary teachers with the range and depth of preparation necessary to deliver the music entitlement consistently at a good or better standard. In addition, teachers are more isolated and engaged in less and less CPD, and a misplaced focus on literacy-based assessment and feedback strategies inappropriately imposed on music pushes music-making itself right out of the classroom². Many teachers are disempowered and under-confident as a consequence of these challenges, and the less confident teachers feel the less likely they are to take a risk on music making.

The flagship funded curricular and pedagogical initiatives of the last decade have undoubtedly had a positive impact on the range, reach and quality of children’s opportunities; however that impact is as patchy as the often cited postcode lottery the NPME was conceived to remedy. Where whole-class instrumental and vocal teaching is embedded into the culture of primary schools by confident classroom teachers working and learning in partnership with expert musicians, children make musical progress and contribute enthusiastically to creating vibrant musical communities in their schools. On the other hand, where it has simply been purchased in without that support for teacher partnership, it is often not sustained when funding reduces, and can leave a legacy of greater teacher disempowerment³.

Where Musical Futures is used by good teachers, often (but not necessarily) in partnership with external musicians, it is clear that young people make great strides not only in their
musicianship, but also in their sense of creative agency, capacity to learn and personal confidence⁴. There is growing evidence that the six funded ACE funded In Harmony⁵ projects currently running in England are enhancing children’s musical enjoyment and musical skills, social and emotional wellbeing and attitudes to learning. Where Sing Up’s resources and training tools are used dynamically by active, curious teachers, children in primary schools sing well, sing often and sing with confidence⁶.

What doesn’t yet seem to be in place is the focused, networked, needs-led planning that was conceived as the cornerstone of the NPME which would bring all of this together consistently at local level. Furthermore, there is no evidence that the insights from these – or other, less high-profile or historically well funded – initiatives are yet being consistently embedded in the culture of music-making in the majority of English schools. This is part of a wider concern, which is that there seems to be a general disconnect between policy, research and classroom practice in music education. Successive Ofsted reports chronicle an increasing gap between those teachers and practitioners who are professionally well-networked and engaged in CPD and practice innovation, whose teaching is generally good or outstanding; and those whose teaching is weak, who tend to be isolated and disconnected from active reflective debate. It is likely that there may be a correlation between decent levels of support in the workplace – time and funding for CPD, active culture of debate, respect for music’s value – and levels of teacher engagement in CPD and networks.

It also seems to be the case that some of the strong partnerships forged between schools and music organisations over the last decade are faltering in a climate of reduced funding. There is demand for Music Hubs to move away from looking like Music Services by another name towards forging delivery networks made up of a diverse range of high-quality local providers, to ensure that the full spectrum of children and young people’s needs are met – which is unlikely ever to be possible from just one organisation. In order to achieve this with reduced funding, Hub partnerships need to become more open and active in seeking new models of delivery, funding and access, and build much stronger relationships with schools. This has been clearly recognised in Arts Council’s recent guidance to Hubs on School Music Education Plans.

The great opportunity now presenting itself is to galvanise all partners across the sector to engage in the transformational change it will take to anchor the new National Curriculum inside the wide vision and diverse partnerships envisioned in the NPME, generating a whole that really is greater than the sum of the parts.

The keys to this lie in achieving greater practice innovation through better support for teachers, more rigorous and consistent focus on quality of provision, and more strategic and ambitious partnership working.