Background 3

Main Findings: 4

The main thrust of the Music Initiative was to offer instrumental opportunities on a wide and equal arrangement to the majority of children. The Initiative was inspired from a management visit to New England, USA, where large numbers of students were seen to engage in instrumental music as part of their normal everyday activities.

Year Five has been used as a target group consisting of approximately 120 students. All had received 4 years of music from the National Curriculum and a small group played recorder, violin and steel pans. The vast majority of children had no particular instrumental expertise or experience. During induction day, all students were asked what they would like to play. Over the Summer holidays this was resourced and instrumental mentors were arranged using in house expertise and enthusiasm. The library was stocked with a range of teaching materials including video and CD tutors. Short sessions were time tabled into the week that coincided with teachers' French or music exchange time. The Initiative has been based on self help and the staff role emphasised assistance and oversight rather than instrumental expertise. The Music Initiative is now in its third year and aims to target 500 children with instrumental opportunities by the millenium.

Three questionnaires were developed to determine the impact of the Music Initiative. The first was conducted in January 1996. Every mentor and student responded to the survey. It concluded that the Initiative was operating smoothly, although staffing changes had incurred some mentoring gaps; these were filled by the County Music Service. A smaller group of students for whom the Initiative was failing was inspired by visits to the Nene College Gamelan. This experienced formed our own Gamelan Group. For other students who had either become disinterested in their original instrument or wished to explore additional instruments, new groups and resourcing arrangements were made. Furthermore, three music residencies were arranged to inspire a wider concept of music making: Junk, Samba and an ongoing strings project with the CBSO.

At the end of the Summer term two other questionnaires were conducted. The first was aimed at all those who were positive towards music and the second at those who were still uninspired by music or had come to the School during the year. Unfortunately, no base assessment of musical knowledge or ability was made and the questionnaire findings can only be interpreted at face value. Nonetheless, they represent a qualitative and quantitative reflective tool from which general trends can be accurately detected.

August 1996

The same questionnaire format has been used for this current review and the report follows the same format as last year in order to enable comparisons in performance. Plus and minus figures in brackets indicate a position of change from last years review. A separate report on the Wednesday Music School was commissioned from NIAS and more information about the general Music provision is available in the published OFSTED report.

August 1997

A wide range of instruments was available to all the students. The following is a summary of the instruments and the numbers of students who played them regularly.

Clarinet 8 (+3)

Cello 3

Double Bass 4 (+3)

Drum Kit 4 (- 4)

Electric Guitar 4

Guitar 15

Junk 10

Keyboard 34 (+10)

Recorder 2

Samba 7

Saxophone 8 (+ 4)

Steel Pans 34 (+ 17)

Trombone 3 (+2)

Trumpet 8 (+5)

Violin 12 (+7)

Total 163 (+35)

22% (-13) of students retained their instrument for between 6 months and 1 year. On average the retention time was 4.6 months (+1 month).

All students received their first choice of instrument. A further 35% (+7) explored a second instrument and 5% a third instrument.

Over a hundred different tunes were identified. These largely reflected the new library stock of beginner tune books that had been put into the student library and the emphasis upon familiar repertoire in class and ensemble music times. The student repertoire also continued to reflect the songs that they enjoyed singing, including a selection of assembly songs, Christmas carols, nursery and pop songs.

41% (-16) of the year group identified a broad range of musical idioms. Again, songs were popular, especially those that were connected to the charts but also comments about musical styles were frequent. A significant difference to last year was the number of responses which identified music within the taught class music course, in particular calypsos and the programme music based upon Messiean and The Iron Man.

35% (-40) of the year group commented that they were able to improvise. The extent of what they were able to achieve varied from their own repeated patterns, to small tunes and parts of songs that they could already sing. A sample of comments illustrates levels of achievement:

...little tunes…rhythms and patterns... tunes using lower octaves... I can record a tune and then play it back... calypsos and patterns... singing rhythms... just simple tunes of my own... patterns, funny sounds and very simple easy tunes.

The students were asked to indicate whether they had consciously listened to more music during the Music Initiative year or not. 79% (+23) responded by saying that time spent listening to music was either the same or more than last year. Of those who said there had been an increase, 19 different styles of music were identified. This music ranged from Glen Miller to Guns and Roses but also included orchestral music prompted by visits to concerts and musicians at work. The following illustrates a range of musical styles:

... The World in Union... Blues... Beetles... Pan Pipes… sax, trumpet, steel band music...... pop songs... pop songs with drum in them...

1 The weekly amount of practice time in School each week, including practice time with mentors, amounted to over 66 hours (+42). In addition, 73% (+23) said that they practiced regularly at home and here the commitment time varied between 30 (+5) to 210 (+90) minutes each week with the average practice time about 136minutes (+54).

2 As a normal part of group learning, students became familiar with performing alongside other players or to an audience. Many informal opportunities were available within School, for example, during class, year or whole school assemblies, open evenings and special events. The Debut Concert was an event especially for 85 musicians who, in the final term, felt ready to play to an external audience and had not done so previously.

3 In addition to these, several other formal and high profile performance opportunities were also organised; these included a shopping centre, concert hall, theatre and church. 56% (-34%) of the entire year group gave a performance on their main instrument. Of this group, 41% (-2%) performed up to three or more times during the year.

4 One of the aims of the Music Initiative is to provide the maximum amount of resources at the smallest cost to the students. Overall, the School provided the vast majority of instruments to all the students who took part in the Music Initiative. Many instruments were bought and these were allocated largely on an individual basis. Where instruments became more popular during the year, a sharing arrangement was necessary. This was organised through the School's library system on a short term loan basis.

5 The quality of instruments continued to impress the students and they gave it a rating of 9.2 (1.3+) out of 10. The following selection of comments support this mark:

6 Similarly, the range of resources was rated highly by the year group at 9.3 (0.7+) out of 10. No other instrument was suggested that could be acquired by the School though several requested more of everything.

7 Another indication of how successful the Music Initiative has been was found by asking the students reflective questions. When asked to grade their experience of playing music at their lower school, the overall result was 5.4 (1.6%) out of 10.

8 When the same question was asked about their current year five experience, the result was a consistent 7.8 out of 10, and this was with over 52% (-3) giving a score of 10.

9 When asked to comment on what they enjoyed about their music making now, over 39% (-21) responded with qualitative comments. Of these, 99% (+6) were overwhelmingly positive and included some of the following remarks:

10 1% of those who commented did so adversely. Two people found instruments boring and two said that it wasn't much fun.

11 When asked to record what they found surprising about learning to play instruments all the answers were very positive. The responses provide a valuable insight into the students' perception of instrumental playing. The following is a representative sample:

12 In a similar way, students were asked to comment openly about the Music Initiative. 99% (+3) of all the comments were positive. This is just a sample of some of the comments made:

When asked to grade the Music Initiative overall, a score of 8.6 (+0.2) out of 10 was given.

13 When asked directly how the Music Initiative could be improved 98% said that they liked it the way it is and would make no changes. Of those who suggested change their comments concerned more drum kits and space to practise in.

14 One definite indication of success in promoting music making can be seen by comparing the number of requests for instrumental lessons at the end of the Music Initiative year with the previous year.

51% (-2) of those continuing with lessons next year have chosen group lessons and the remaining 47% (+4), individual lessons. Many of those who said they didn't want to continue with instrumental tuition gave no reason; some mentioned other after school interests, music lessons already at home, finance and no time available for practice and rehearsal.

15 Three types of lessons have been arranged to cater specifically for three levels of commitment and achievement. The following is a breakdown of requests with the type of lesson arrangement.

As the Music Initiative begins its third year and prepares to receive a new Year 5, there are a number of small organizational changes that have been inspired by the findings of this report.

16 The organization of lessons into different types with names and advertised courses has worked well this year. The increase in information has been useful to parents and students, raising the profile and understanding of how instrumental lessons are delivered and their content. A music brochure for parents summarising the Music opportunities at Mereway would be useful for answering general enquiries and shring informtion.

17 Sounds Musical workshops will be introduced in music lessons this term and more use will be made of the visiting staff in arranging workshops during the Wednesday Music School towards the beginning of term.

18 Music Together lessons have been successful in bringing together groups of musicians and various ensembles have been formed. These include a pop group, samba band and wind band led by our visiting staff.

19 Solo lessons have been popular and several musicians have been successful in grade examinations.

20 Assessment in music will be attempted at the start of the academic year, purely as a means of establishing a baseline and an index to show progress. A combination of the Mills Aural Tests and Mereway Listening Tests will be trialed. In addition, tests will be designed to assess the effectiveness of the taught course along the lines of the National Curriculum for music and our own Music Targets. The tests can be repeated at the end of the year. Certificates will be given to all those completing a Sounds Musical module and as appropriate, students may be entered for County and External examinations.

21 Resources will need to be increased to accommodate not only the current demand but also to cater for the new intake. It is likely that the Steel and Samba Band will need to be enlarged, and more flutes, clarinets and saxophones will be needed. Discussions with music suppliers are underway to take advantage of the VAT free and discount instrument initiative so that parents may see a way to acquiring their own instruments as their children become increasing proficient on their chosen instrument.

22 Staffing the beginner stages of the Music Initiative will, as far as possible, be covered with our own staff or appropriate students from the Upper School. More expertise is needed to cope with the demand for lessons beyond the beginner stage so the County Music Service will be teaching all of the Music Together and Solo lessons. Eight teachers have already been requested, to include: upper strings, lower strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, keyboard and guitar. Gamelan will be organised separately through Nene College.

23 Time tabling is increasingly complex. The expansion of the Music Initiative and Curriculum organization means that more use will need to be made of before and after school times in order to accommodate all of the groups. Most days will need to start at 8:00am for ensemble groups and the Wednesday Music School will need to be extended to 6:00pm.

24 Practice times will be arranged and students will be able to book a room and time slot. This will be organised on a practice ID card, issued to all those eligible. For those students who would like a practice partner, it is planned to use older and more able players to help beginners practise and enjoy their music.

25 Music Clubs for the regular ensembles will continue and a new IT composing group is planned for the Autumn term. It is expected that this will be an attraction to the advanced musicians who are working towards their Music GCSE. Due to the pressure of time within practical lessons, separate theory lessons will also become part of the Wednesday Music School in order to support the teaching and leaning of the instrumental lessons. Requests from the parents, teachers and friends of Mereway have also inspired the formation of an adult steel band and it is hoped that as more adults become involved with the music, more group leaders will become available to manage smaller ensembles.

26 Performances will continue to be arranged at every available opportunity, for a variety of achievers, purposes and venues. In particular, in addition to the annual Debut Concert, a larger Castle/Derngate concert is planned for the second half of the year. This will incorporate all of the music groups on the Mereway Campus and in the two Music Schools.

27. Quality Control is an important aspect of the Music Initiative. This year the music provision has been inspected twice by external authorities - NIAS and OFSTED. On both occasions it was praised for its excellent scope and administration. Furthermore, the emphasis upon composing, performing and listening throughout the instrumental teaching and learning received particular comment. The sensible advice which was offered has been incorporated into future developments. We see a commitment to continued professional review as an important part of our mission and vision.

28. Staff training will continue to be a high priority. Termly meetings with visiting music staff have enabled the Music Initiative to move forward with effective planning and the sharing of enthusiasms and ideas.