Music in Schools What now? What next?

What do Ofsted inspectors want to see? A detailed lesson plan, including the context A seating plan Objectives on the board Success criteria displayed Frequent assessment throughout the lesson Evidence of a starter, main and plenary

Inspectors want to see exactly the same thing as you: high quality learning, interest, skills development and enjoyment. “The effective teaching of art, music, drama and other creative subjects is important in ensuring students experience a rich and balanced curriculum. This is something our inspectors pay close attention to when they visit schools.”

So why are we doing this? Because music teachers work magic! Because music exists for no other reason than to enhance our lives Because music reaches the parts that other subjects can’t reach! ‘Music is a demanding academic discipline, developed through exciting practical musical activity’.

Common myths? You have to do whatever is necessary to show, to an external observer, that the pupils are making progress during the lesson. You have to put a number into a box/into an electronic system to show that your pupils are making progress. You have to set homework frequently

The National Curriculum Music in Key Stages 1 and 2 is more important than ever. ‘Play tuned and untuned instruments musically’ ‘Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high- quality live and recorded music.’ ‘Use and understand staff and other musical notations.`’ ‘Develop an understanding of the history of music.’ We need more singing! We need to look at things in more depth and have higher expectations of pupils at Key Stage 3

Curriculum content: schemes of work We should consider what skills we need our pupils to develop – and the best way of developing these. We should constantly be on the lookout for new resources that can be incorporated into our schemes of work to enhance learning. We should give careful thought to our expectations for written work – (‘the booklet’)

Ofsted look at pupils’ written work as an indication of: Challenge and level of expectations in the tasks set - including differentiation Pupils’ progress over time The pride that pupils take in presenting their work The impact of marking and feedback The attention paid to developing pupils’ literacy skills

Example: ‘The Listening Journal’ Specific questions relating to genre, instrumentation, tempo, time period, etc. More open-ended questions Focus on pupils’ personal response – development of oracy skills Making links between different types of music Developing an understanding of the musical timeline

Examples used: Incantation: ‘Cachapaya’ Rita Connolly: ‘Ripples in the Rockpools’ The Cleverlys: ‘Gangnam Style’

Assessment in music: life after levels The ‘tail wagging the dog’ – in all subjects! Systems used in other subjects often didn’t work well in music As with other subjects, the emphasis must be on what pupils know, understand and can do, rather than just a number or grade Audio and video files can be used to show evidence of progress over time. The opportunity to develop new systems that are fit for purpose – see ISM documents

Implications for teaching Much more emphasis on securing understanding Effective use of questioning – vital for checking understanding and assessing learning Getting them to do more of the work – including explaining/articulating their understanding Creating opportunities for assessment – and taking advantage of these!

First and foremost, Ofsted inspectors want to see high quality learning: engagement, enjoyment, skills development. Schemes of work should be designed to ensure progression and reflect high expectations If you choose to use a ‘booklet’, do so with caution and make sure that the opportunities for challenge are explicit The advantages of collaborative planning cannot be overestimated You have the freedom to use your choice of assessment system, but it should be fit for purpose. The only reason to do anything is because it has a positive impact on learning.