Blog first published in June 2022

We first met in 1977 through the celebrated choral director Ralph Allwood, who asked us to write a show for his school in Reading. It was a jazz musical and turned into a hit, performed at the Edinburgh Festival and elsewhere. We went on to write many musicals for secondary schools, but Cinderella is the first we have written for primary children.

Cinderella came about because, having taught music at Tiffin School for many years, David was increasingly disheartened to read press reports about declining curriculum time for music in some schools, particularly at primary level. He strongly believes that music is not only an essential part of a person’s education but also of their character development. In wondering what he could do to help, he had the idea of creating a short musical that primary school children could perform.

After writing the show, we decided that we would also give our time, free of charge, to produce the first performance and we offered it to St John’s School in Kingston, where we knew one of the teachers. They jumped at the chance and put it on the timetable for Friday afternoons as part of the curriculum. This meant that the entire class took part in it, which was exactly the spirit of the idea.

One of the problems for the arts in primary schools is that there aren’t many teachers who are specialists. St John’s is a small school with just one class per year, and it has no one who’s a music specialist, although there is an external teacher for dance and some drama workshops. So the children hadn’t done any singing until we got there apart from hymns.

We didn’t necessarily write Cinderella for 10-year-olds, but the school decided to give us Year 5 as the class. It was a fairly strenuous time for them, but they were brilliant. We had a hunch that they could do it; it was just a question of whether they could stand up to the rigors of the way we work. But the children just lapped it up and the teachers stood back and were amazed. The children themselves often don’t realise what they are capable of, but if you get their trust they can really exceed everyone’s expectations.

There were 19 different nationalities in the class of 30. No one was disruptive and they worked very hard. There was one girl who is completely deaf and she was wonderful – she danced and sang with everyone else. She has ear implants and she had to wear a mouse’s head as part of her costume, so we cut holes in the head for her.

The children really supported each other. A good example of this was the two ugly sisters. One of them is a consummate actor, and the other is also very able but turned out to have various difficulties, and the help that they gave each other during the rehearsals was fantastic to watch.

There were one or two children who were shy and diffident at the auditions and didn’t want to embark on something new. We gave them small parts, which they were pleased with as they were still involved, and they really blossomed. There were other children who said to us after two or three weeks that they didn’t want to take part, but because it was a whole class endeavour they carried on, really grew into it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Now half of the class want to become actors and the other half want to be stage directors! We’re all great friends now too, which is lovely.

We devised the whole piece so it would be accessible to other people. The music is provided by two keyboards and drums (played by David, another former Tiffin teacher John Pearson, and Jeremy) but it’s going to be recorded so people can have a CD of the music to use if they don’t have anyone who can play those instruments.

The scenery is a set of projections that go on a screen at the back of the stage. These were produced by students on the TV and Media course at Kingston University. The students came into the school and asked the children to draw what they thought the show should look like, and they then put the drawings on to an animated screen, so the children had an input on another creative level as well.

Most of the costumes were made by a local friend and they also go with the package. The mouse heads and a few other items we hired ourselves from the National Youth Music Theatre, but you can also create your own.

The score/backing CD, script, scenery and costumes will be available free of charge for anyone who would like to put on the show. We hope that people will produce Cinderella and then be encouraged to start doing other productions themselves. Retired teachers like David might well be keen to go into schools and lend a hand with a project like this if specialised help is required.

We recently met the children again for a further rehearsal and it is amazing how much more confident, mature and socially aware they are as a result of experiencing the arts and performing. The school seems delighted with the experiment and have given no indication that the classes’ other work in core subjects has fallen behind despite all the time we took. This project shows just how much students can get out of creative learning. We hope that the teamwork and sense of achievement will be valuable for the class – we’re delighted they enjoyed being part of it as much as we did.

St John’s Primary School won the Community Award for Cinderella at the July 2022 Fuse International Creative Youth Festival in Kingston, with their performances described as an ‘exceptional contribution to the festival’. If you are interested in producing Cinderella yourself, please contact the ISM at membership@ism.org or call 020 7221 3499.

Writer and director Jeremy James Taylor founded the National Youth Music Theatre in 1976. Composer David Nield was Director of Music at Tiffin School for 35 years and was Chair of the National Youth Music Theatre for many years. Their joint music theatre works include The Ragged Child and The Tower of Babel.

Photos: courtesy Stephen Simpson

Originally published 27 March 2021 by Dr Steven Berryman

Any attention at a policy level for a subject that has been considered in decline is welcome, and the publication of the Model Music Curriculum presents the beginning of some positive steps to propel the classroom music conversation forward. Its thorough consultation, and slower pace due to the challenges of the present time, have resulted in something that will land well for many. For others, there will be some cognitive dissonance (rightly so) and they’ll be fearful of what non-statutory guidance represents. I would implore us all to keep the conversation going; in some respects, it is the continuation of a healthy history of academic, political and policy discussions around what, how and why we teach music.

Schools are considering their curriculum with increased intensity, fuelled by the focus on curriculum intent by those that hold schools to account. Accountability aside, what we teach is hugely exciting for a teacher. You get to find content then brings you joy (reminds you of why you fell in love with the subject) and what you hope will bring that same buzz for your students. The energy, vibrancy, and proliferation of the curriculum conversations in classrooms, departments and on social media has been a joy to see. Teachers are sharing their resources and thinking with generosity through blog posts, articles, and tweets; a positive of the curriculum focus has been a huge amount of care for ensuring what we provide our students is the genuine best for them. Undoubtedly what one considers ‘best’ for their students will not be the best for others, and this fuels an engaging debate about what should and should not feature in a curriculum.

Publishing non-statutory guidance was always going to stimulate quite ferocious dialogue in music education because we all care so deeply about our subject; we all have distinct musical enthusiasms we are keen to champion in our classrooms and when we don’t see our passions in guidance (however non-statutory) we feel a sense of loss and lack of recognition. Capturing such a broad ecology of music(al) education endeavour – not only the range of practices living and thriving in schools and beyond today but also technology – would always be an unachievable challenge. We have many organisations that champion a range of diverse and inclusive practices that are have an important place in our classrooms and our curriculum thinking; whilst we might spot an absence of something there is much to celebrate in what is included.

The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP writes in the foreword of the Model Music Curriculum (henceforth MMC) that ‘in setting out a clearly sequenced and ambitious approach to music teaching, this curriculum provides a roadmap to introduce pupils to the delights and disciplines of music, helping them to appreciate and understand the works of the musical giants of the past, while also equipping them with the technical skills and creativity to compose and perform’.

‘The MMC takes as its starting point the ambition that every young person should be able to experience music and to make progress. It is founded on the belief that music enriches individual lives as well as a school’s wider community’. No arguments from any of us here, and I welcomed the emphasis on progress and progression (whatever that might look like, and however non-linear it might be too). Anecdotally, I’ve always welcomed a stronger steer about how we can plan for students to progress as musicians and this guidance provides an attempt of what progress could look like. There’ll of course be a wealth of perspectives on how a child progresses as a musician, and I look forward to reading the challenge and different perspectives.

‘The MMC takes account of the many different school contexts that exist. Effective delivery is likely to come from a combination of schools, teachers, practitioners, professional ensembles, venues, and other Music Education Hub partners working collaboratively’. Partnership has been a vital component of music education, and it is this densely packed ecology of partners that makes it such a rewarding subject to work in. The MMC provides the beginning of some shared thinking and language; I imagine hubs and their schools will see an opportunity to consider their own models, their own values and their own preferences of what to champion through their curricula. For some, this guidance might help rebuild and launch music where it has been present in recent months or years. For others it will represent huge relief as they have been working alone to make a functional music curriculum and perhaps have not found the support they needed.

It’s hugely exciting to see some flesh on the bones of the National Curriculum; the sparse two-page programme of study was a springboard for welcome freedom in approach for the confident teacher but many were paralysed through a lack of detail. ‘Teachers are encouraged to use pieces from a wide range of cultures and traditions that truly reflect the community in which they are teaching’. This is important to note. It’s easy to skim this and see suggested repertoire as compulsory. The suggested repertoire will be of huge benefit for those looking for a starting point, and for those with confidence they’ll see opportunities to find music that resonates with their community more appropriately. The suggested repertoire attempts to show how revisiting music is possible, and again champions that desire for progression through the key stages.

We’ll all quibble over the detail in the MMC and this is where it will get exciting; we’ve been a little starved of meaningful and purposeful dialogue in music around classroom music curriculum design and this guidance provides the beginning. I sat down with a pencil and started to annotate my copy; considering things I’d do at a different point, things I’d edit slightly, and music I’d use instead. This is why guidance is so useful. We finally have something quite meaty to interrogate and enable some shared thinking. We can join the ranks of those school subjects that are already doing this well, such as History, by revealing to the world in its 100-page glory that this is a subject with a wealth of powerful knowledge, skills and understanding that are worthy of serious consideration by teachers, parents and leaders. I can’t wait to see the ensuing conversations over the months ahead as colleagues continue to discuss and debate the details; let’s hope it’s one of many models that will appear in the coming years.

Can you imagine what implementing this model could mean for your students? Implementing this well could mean we have renewed energy around professional learning for music educators, and renewed energy for senior leaders in schools who can now see a tangible attempt to show the majesty and magic of our subject. With the recommendation of minimum classroom time and/or regularity of lessons at all Key Stages senior leaders will be propelled to question how far removed their offer is from this guidance. Over 100-pages of guidance for the subject means senior leaders and governors can begin to understand this is a subject that needs serious consideration, serious resourcing and serious implementation. Let’s keep talking about the MMC and let’s begin to think collectively about what we can do as sector to ensure every child and young person has the music education they deserve.

 

 

Can Do Music were particularly pleased in March 2021 when this blog was first published with the expectation, in the Model Music Curriculum (MMC), of a minimum of one hour’s music per week from Year 1 to Year 9.

The publication of the MMC by the Department for Education (DfE) contains important non-statutory guidance to support teachers in delivering high quality classroom music lessons from Year 1 to Year 9 and follows a two-year development process.

Crucially, the MMC values music as a subject in its own right by demonstrating the Government’s support for its teaching in schools. Some of the most important elements include expectations that Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils should receive a minimum of one hour of teaching a week and KS3 music should have a minimum of one weekly period. In addition, it suggests that placing music with other subjects on rotas (or “carousels”) is not a substitute for teaching one lesson per week per subject across an academic year.

#CanDoMusic started initially as a campaign, launched by the ISM, MTA and Music Mark to protect music in schools. We have been highly influential in the creation of the MMC through participation in the consultation process and supplying research, with both MTA and Music Mark represented on the Expert Panel. Collectively, we look forward to working with the membership of each organisation to interpret and implement this guidance.

Commenting on the publication:

The Incorporated Society of Musicians’ (ISM) Chief Executive, Deborah Annetts, said:

‘The publication of the Model Music Curriculum is important for helping to ensure that all schools offer meaningful classroom music. In particular, I am delighted with the expectation of a minimum of one hour’s music per week from Year 1 to Year 9 because sustained learning is crucial for helping young people grow in skill and confidence.

‘Every child deserves access to a quality music education but research has shown that opportunities for pupils to make and create music are becoming more limited. The Government should now be actively encouraging teaching music as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, […] ensuring that it is properly financed.’

Music Mark Chief Executive, Bridget Whyte, said:

‘The mention of the role that wider partners within local Music Education Hubs can play in the delivery of music in schools, confirms the importance of partnership working in providing a quality music education in and out of the classroom. The introduction within this Model Music Curriculum provides a strong message from the DfE of the importance of musical learning for every child, and we now look forward to the next steps they will need to take in completing their work on a ‘refreshed’ National Plan for Music Education to sit alongside this new guide.’

Music Teachers Association (MTA) President, Simon Toyne, said:

‘Our partnership with the ISM and Music Mark has made a substantial impact over the last year with our #CanDoMusic campaign. This continues with our response to the Model Music Curriculum. This is a significant moment when we can come together in partnership, sharing our expertise, experience, drive and passion (and, of course, those legendary problem-solving skills of music teachers), to make a difference to the lives of so many children. We want the Summer Term to be busy, with music teachers, headteachers, hub leaders, and all passionate about music education, coming together to bring the MMC to life, enabling all children in all schools to access a quality music curriculum.’

Notes to editors

The #CanDoMusic campaign was launched in 2020 by the ISM, MTA and Music Mark to protect music in schools by celebrating the innovation of teachers and sharing practical resources to deliver the subject in engaging new ways.

• 85% of teachers surveyed by Music Mark stated they saw value in a Model Music Curriculum.
• The ISM found that a quarter of English secondary school teachers said pupils are not receiving classroom music throughout Key Stage 3 as a continuing result of the EBacc accountability measure.

The MMC offers significant insight into what children can actually achieve when guided by a purposeful curriculum taught by committed, imaginative teachers. It aims to support pupils in the musical progression throughout the Key Stages, offers practical solutions for improving diversity and inclusion while being ‘founded on the belief that music enriches individual lives as well as a school’s wider community’.

About the ISM

The Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) is the UK’s professional body for musicians and a nationally-recognised subject association for music. Since 1882, we have been dedicated to promoting the importance of music and protecting the rights of those working in the music profession.

We support nearly 11,000 music professionals across the UK and Ireland with our unrivalled legal advice and representation, comprehensive insurance and specialist services. Our members come from all areas of the music profession and from a wide variety of genres and musical backgrounds.

We campaign tirelessly in support of musicians’ rights, music education and the profession as a whole. We are a financially independent not-for-profit organisation with no political affiliation. This independence allows us the freedom to campaign on any issue affecting musicians.

For more information, please contact bruce.rothberg@ism.org

About Music Mark

The UK Association for Music Education – Music Mark is a membership organisation and Subject Association advocating for excellent musical learning in and out of school. We support our members through training and resources, connect them with the wider Music Education network across the UK, and influence on their behalf at a national level. In doing so, we champion a diverse, accessible, and government-supported music education provision to inspire and enrich the lives of all children and young people in the UK.

About the MTA

The Music Teachers’ Association is the largest and longest established association of music teachers in the UK, supporting all who are connected with a school music department.

Our year-round CPD programme of webinars, podcasts, e-bulletins and Ensemble magazine, supported by our Facebook Staffroom and Annual Conference, enables music teachers to connect with each other, share ideas, develop good practice and work together in partnership.

The MTA works with our partner organisations, HMC, ISM and Music Mark, to support and advocate for music in schools, inspiring a membership which passionately believes that every child should benefit from outstanding music education.

Caroline Gale and students from Guildford County School remind us why continuing to make music is essential and worth every effort.

This was first published in September 202o when, changing government restrictions, a sense of uncertainty, and the prospect of an impending extended lockdown, were the everyday reality.

“I absolutely cannot stress enough how important music (and the arts) are in schools. It gives the opportunity to create and massively builds confidence and teamwork / social skills.”

“Music made me want to go to school because it has the unique ability to bring people together.”

“Music education has been the backbone and the grounding to everything I have done. There was continual, mutual inspiration from unexpected places around the classroom from the tuition, peers, and the process which has benefited my outlook on and collaborative work I’ve done since then.”

– Quotes from music students past and present at Guildford County School

Caroline Gale, Director of Music and Head of Creativity at Guildford County School, talks to us about the vital life skills built into a musical education.

Music is a unifying energy that creates an environment for personal accomplishment through a continuous, ever-evolving creative process. Music helps to develop a lifelong skillset and is a source of undoubted satisfaction. Education needs to provide a platform for life-enhancing opportunities, a platform to be heard and a platform that encourages us to be strong enough to be ourselves. It exposes the fullness of humanity, nurturing the emotional and spiritual, as well as the academic.

Music equips us with the ability to feel compassion, to embrace multiple perspectives, to understand that small, often subtle differences can have large effects and allows us to express what cannot often be said. It teaches that problems can have more than one solution and that questions can have more than one answer. It teaches us how, not what, to think.

As musicians and educators, our focus is to ignite, equip, prepare and organise an understanding of the world. One that responds to and sees the value and balance in logic and process alongside the aesthetic and in exploration, imagination and interpretation. By promoting and supporting the learning of instruments and singing, we catalyse the development of cognitive capacity and memory skills; fine motor skills and dexterity; problem-solving and nuance.

What greater preparation for life than understanding that all aspects of performing (be it musical, academic or in any form of presentation) happens in real time. Music creates an immediacy that requires us to be present and ‘in the moment,’ as well as being aware and capable of reacting under pressure. Music inherently calls us to understand the big picture – the end result, before we start to break down our practice, rehearsals and our planning. This cannot be a rushed process, as music rarely has a definite answer. It, therefore, relies on self-discipline, stamina, resilience, clear communication skills, spontaneity and genuine emotion but, can only bear fruit as a result of focused efficient, patient and structured, often incremental, preparation. The overarching influence of music lessons and rehearsals creates an unquantifiable sense of freedom, positivity and mental gain. It becomes far more than just a curriculum.

At Guildford County School, there is an understanding that the impact of music and creativity is an integral part of our whole school ethos. From orchestrating lessons, rehearsals, events, meetings, strategic documents and CPD opportunities, to understanding that the rhythms and practical applications of learning demonstrate interconnected, cohesive and cumulative approaches.

Music inspires curiosity through the learning journey. It teaches us acceptance of being vulnerable, to have the strength to see mistakes as a necessary part of the flexible learning process. Learning to progress and excel as individuals as well as fostering inclusivity, collaboration, pride and unity of intention happens both in the classroom and in ensembles and choirs. At Guildford County, this unity of intention is partly driven by our sixth form Music Ambassadors who co-run and chair our music council; a feature of the whole schools approach to student voice and modelling. The focus of which, is centred around keeping music alive across many applications and platforms.

Music has been the very lifeline for so many during lockdown and a sharp reminder of the importance of breaking down preconceived barriers, eroding judgement and evoking empathy, understanding and connection. Music allows us to truly listen, not just to hone, refine and mould the creation of sound, but in order to fully understand each other which, in an increasingly dislocated world, is a vital and unique quality that the power of music, as a universal language, offers.

If we really are to prepare our students for tomorrows world, music is the core strength that forms the foundation for so many learning skills and approaches.

If you would like to learn more about the practical ways you can put Caroline’s vision into action, head back to the CanDoMusic main site for regularly updated guidance, tips, and resources.

An ensemble in music refers to a group performing together, typically playing different instruments or singing.

In an ensemble, each musician plays a unique role in creating a cohesive sound.

Ensembles can be made up of any combination of instruments or voices, and can perform a wide variety of musical styles.

Visit the MTA website to read more about how to build your own ensemble video.

Or simply enjoy this video Kenilworth School and Sixth Form perform this epic MARVEL Avengers Assemble Theme Tune.