Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have (1) to
revitalise music, art, craft and dance, in state schools, and (2)
to recruit teachers of these subjects.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Education () (Con)
My Lords, the Government remain committed to pupils receiving a
high-quality cultural education, including in music, art and
design and dance. We are investing around £115 million in music
and arts up to 2025, in addition to core school budgets. There
are over 468,000 full-time equivalent teachers in state-funded
schools in England, the highest since the school workforce census
began. We are offering £10,000 tax-free initial teacher training
bursaries for art and design and music from 2024-25.
(LD)
I thank the Minister for that very positive reply. However, one
of the very many damaging offshoots of the EBacc and Progress 8
has been to degrade—indeed, in some cases to eliminate —music,
dance, art and crafts from state school curricula, but every
young person deserves the opportunity to experience and enjoy
them. What is more, the arts are major contributors to the
nation’s economy. The Minister has mentioned funding; how are the
Government funding music hubs? How specifically do the Government
intend to recruit teachers for these life-enhancing subjects?
(Con)
To put the noble Baroness’s concerns in perspective, I point out
that if one takes into account both GCSEs and technical awards,
which I know she values, just over half of students—52%—take
either a GCSE or technical award. We are funding the music hubs
with £79 million per annum for delivery but there is an
additional £25 million fund for the purchase of musical
instruments. In my Answer I gave an indication of the bursaries
we will be providing to encourage recruitment.
(Lab)
My Lords, as a former drama teacher and current chair of trustees
of the Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre, I know how
important studying the arts is to children’s lives. When such
access is limited in schools, it is the poorer students who are
denied the benefits. Surely we all want young people to carry a
love of learning that sets them up to achieve and thrive, and the
arts are central to this. Can the Minister give an update on the
progress of the cultural education panel? When can we expect its
report?
(Con)
The Government would not disagree with anything the noble
Baroness said on the importance of arts and other wider
curriculum subjects. She will be aware that we published our new
music education plan in June 2022. We will be publishing the
cultural education plan in the coming months.
(Con)
My Lords, should we not note and commend the existence of nearly
1,700 partnership schemes through which state and independent
schools are working together to develop the talents of their
pupils in music and art subjects? Will the Government give
vigorous support to the further increase and expansion of these
valuable partnership schemes?
(Con)
The Government have been very supportive of partnerships between
the independent sector and state-funded schools. I absolutely
recognise the important work done by the 1,700 schemes and I hope
we see many more in future.
(CB)
My Lords, I declare my interests in the register. We now have
EBacc, Progress 8 and the new BritBacc—I presume that is what it
is called—which all exclude creative subjects. Does the Minister
agree that, until the Government stop their obsession with
mandatory A-level maths and their focus on purely academic
subjects, there is little chance of revitalising the teaching of
creative arts in schools and therefore recruiting teachers to
teach them?
(Con)
To clarify, there is no mandatory maths A-level; there will be
the provision of maths to 18, which will take us to the same
position as every other G7 country. The noble Lord is a teacher
and understands better than I do how children learn but, through
the EBacc, we are delivering an important rich store of knowledge
from which children can apply their creativity, critical thinking
and imagination.
The Lord Bishop of Sheffield
My Lords, many Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals regularly
send professional musicians into schools to support them with
singing, at minimal charge. For example, by 2026, Sheffield
Cathedral plans to support 30 schools a year with high-quality,
curriculum-based music teaching, mostly in our most deprived
communities. Does the Minister think there might be scope here
for partnership with government to maximise the potential of such
schemes?
(Con)
I very much welcome that initiative. That ecosystem between our
different cultural institutions, including charities and, of
course, religious organisations, is extremely important. However,
in practical terms, local relationships between schools and local
cultural organisations can work best, and our music hubs help to
link those up.
(LD)
My Lords—
(Lab)
My Lords—
(Con)
My Lords, shall we hear from the Labour Benches? There will then
be plenty of time to hear from the Lib Dem Benches.
(Lab)
My Lords, I am pleased that my noble friend on the Front Bench
added drama to this list, because I am sure that the Minister
knows that it has been lost from the curricula of very many
schools. Although 52% is more than half, it is simply inadequate:
very many children in our schools get no exposure to art, drama,
music or dance. I ask the Minister to meet with the professional
bodies, particularly the teachers’ unions, to look at how we
might review and keep under review the 11-to-16 and the
five-to-11 curricula, to ensure that all children, in every
school, have access to these subjects.
(Con)
As the noble Baroness knows, drama is obviously part of the
national curriculum, so I do not quite recognise her description
that many children receive no exposure to drama at all. There has
also been a massive expansion of technical and vocational
qualifications. Since 2016, the numbers of pupils taking music
VTQs have gone from just over 8,000 to almost 18,000. There was a
similar increase, from just under 9,000 to just over 18,000, for
speech and drama. Perhaps unsurprisingly in some ways, the huge
expansion has been in multimedia studies, which have gone from
just over 4,000 students in 2016 to 54,000 last year.
(LD)
My Lords, can the Minister give us an idea of what the Government
are doing to encourage people to take up the subjects here
part-time or as hobbies, due to the huge benefit you gain from
being involved in things like community activity in dance and
drama? Where is this being done, how are those hubs being
created, and are we sure we have people who know enough to make
these things fun for those other than the incredibly
talented?
(Con)
I meet many teachers who deliver these subjects, and I am struck
by their commitment and skill. Close to 100% of teachers in art
and design and in music have a relevant qualification post
A-level.
(Con)
I refer noble Lords to my entry in the register of interests.
Earlier this year, I attended a performance of scenes from
Shakespeare plays by year 5s from North Wootton Academy at St
George’s Guildhall, the oldest working theatre in the UK. When I
spoke to pupils afterwards, it was clear not only how much they
absolutely loved the experience but just how much confidence they
had gained from performing on stage and in front of an audience.
Can my noble friend explain or outline what the department is
doing in addition to the fantastic school-led initiatives, of
which that is one, to try to ensure that children of all ages are
able to perform in public?
(Con)
My noble friend paints a wonderful picture; I think that the
House can imagine the pleasure of those children involved. I was
fortunate enough to go and see something similar with a number of
school orchestras and choirs performing, and I absolutely agree
with what she said. We continue to support such activities, and
will do more in our cultural education plan. I remind the House
that we have also included an hour of music a week as compulsory,
as our expectation in the school curriculum.
