By Dr Steven
Berryman
Dr Steven Berryman, Director of creativity, music and culture
at The Charter Schools Educational Trust explains their vision
for music education.
Our vision
As the Director of creativity, music and culture across the
family of schools in the Charter Trust, I oversee
our music strategy. As a former expert panel member for the
National Plan for Music
Education (NPME), I was keen to work with music leads in our
school to champion the ambitions of the plan.
As a Trust, we are committed to music. We have primary and
secondary schools in the trust who all have a music lead and a
range of instrumental teaching, enrichment, ensembles and
projects with the local music hub. We are rightly proud that over
one third of pupils across the Trust are involved in music
lessons outside of the curriculum and attend a musical activity
each week.
We reviewed music education across our schools by looking at the
participation in music beyond the classroom, including taking a
closer look at those most at risk of missing out on such
involvement (such as those eligible for free school
meals). We know it’s important that our schools have
timetabled music with high-quality curriculum music for at least
one hour a week in key stages 1 to 3, supported by co-curricular
learning, and musical experiences.
We explored what we valued and wanted to ensure every child could
access; this was a discussion had not only with senior leaders
but with executive leaders and trustees. These conversations
helped to shape our trust-wide vision for music.
Sharing practice
Through a music themed network across the Trust, we used the
Model Music Curriculum
(MMC) as a starting point for discussions about the music
curriculum in our schools with a particular focus on developing
singing. Music leads have shared examples of singing in their
schools and reflected on the journey through nursery to year 6 in
how we champion healthy vocal development through a range of
curriculum and co-curricular experiences. Through these
discussions we were able to agree on future collaborations to
develop singing further across our schools.
We have a range of excellent music curriculums being taught
across our schools that have been designed with care and
sequenced to ensure purposeful musical learning. Music leads
readily share their work with peers, and where necessary build on
the music curriculum offer in the local hub.
Partnerships
Working in partnership is vital for a healthy music education.
Our schools have formed sustained partnerships with the local hub
and with ensembles and musicians in our borough. Recent work has
included students performing with the Multi-Story Orchestra and
taking part in a song writing workshop in a local cross-sector
partnership. Pupils have taken part in orchestral workshops with
the hub and have had musicians visit such as a recent opera
workshop. As we plan out a programme of activity for the next
academic year, we will consider which partnerships can be shared
across our Trust to maximise involvement and to bolster
collaboration. We are particularly excited that one of our
schools will join the Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST)
programme in the coming year.
Looking ahead
In the summer term of the current academic year, I have met with
music leaders to work on their Music Development Plans (MDP) for
the next academic year, seeking to ensure these are in place for
September 2023. These plans build on our trust-wide ambitions for
music, which exceed the expectations of the NPME. The MDP
discussions focus on what is our music education offer in each
school, and to refine the priorities for the year ahead and for
the next three years. As a Trust, we will seek to achieve our
ambitions by working in collaboration across our family of
schools to share expertise and resource, but also to consider
where we can work with local independent schools and our music
hubs.
The MDPs help shape our Trust-wide music development plan,
something the NPME encourages MATs to create. In my role as
Director of Creativity, Music and Culture I will support Music
leads to deliver their individual plans and through their work,
and our trust-wide collaboration, seek to achieve the broader
trust-wide goals in our MAT Music Development Plan.
Find more information about how the DfE are ensuring young
people have access to great music education: How we are ensuring young
people have access to great music education - The Education Hub
(blog.gov.uk)
