Jonathan Savage

A new piece of work being funded and managed by The Paul Hamlyn Foundation will focus on transition. The following text outlines the project and its key aims. This comes from the briefing paper available from the Music Manifesto website:

Building on the success of Musical Futures, and following a careful scoping and consultation exercise, the Foundation has developed, a proposal for a new music education initiative – one that would require active commitment and shared ownership from a range of other key partners.

This new initiative is intended to achieve a step change in the co-ordination, continuity and progression of young people’s music learning as they transfer from primary to secondary school, tackling the widely acknowledged lack of consistent and effective mechanisms to support young people at this difficult point of transition.

Many of the issues are not particular to music but there is a strong case for focusing on music learning given the significant government support (‘Sing-Up’, ‘Wider Opportunities’, ‘The Instrument Fund’, etc.) for music in school that has gone to the primary sector in recent years and that has raised young people’s motivation and desire to be musically active – and the clear risk that these gains will be lost in the intervening years before they might benefit from participation with MusicalFutures approaches towards the end of KS3.

The Foundation is proposing to establish with partners, a collaborative and strategic initiative that would identify, consolidate, evaluate and disseminate the best examples of effective transition practice that currently exist around the country, develop effective means of recording young people’s learning and progress at this time and demonstrate coherent and effective multi-agency approaches at a local level. A national campaign would galvanise schools, local authorities, music organisations, parents and music practitioners across the country into taking action themselves to support more effective music transition.

The initiative is steered and overseen by a National Working Group (including the National Music Participation Director and representatives from DCSF, Youth Music and MMPAG) which the Foundation has offered to convene and service and the Foundation has made a financial contribution of £520,000 towards the initiative. The Foundation has also offered to take on responsibility for the overall management and co-ordination of the initiative through the appointment of a Programme Convener.

We are proposing four key, interlinked areas of work as the major strands of the initiative:

To develop a better understanding of what already exists, what works and why

Here we would aim to address the lack of significant research and evaluation of transition programmes by commissioning, and analysing best current practice. We would aim to provide platforms and/or forums for sharing and exchange of promising musical practice amongst pupils, teachers, Local Authorities and Music Services and non-formal sector. We would aim to gather evidence for ascertaining effective practice for a potential campaign.

To promote continuous musical progression from KS2 through to KS3

We would aim to bridge the gap between key initiatives for provision in primary and secondary schools (e.g. Wider Opportunities and Sing up, Musical Futures). The aim here would be to create effective systems for recording a child’s musical progress, possibly utilising virtual learning environments and appropriate technologies and meeting the needs of secondary music teachers to understand students’ prior learning. We would also aim to ensure transition is recognised as a shared responsibility and that effectiveness is measured and challenged by someone in a sufficiently senior role.

To disseminate and support the extension and expansion of effective and innovative practice

We would seek to consolidate or support the expansion of existing innovative practice and enable widespread sharing of effective practices. We would aim to harness existing initiatives to avoid duplication, interface with or use other opportunities as they come up, and support extension of current schemes, training events and teacher development mechanisms.

To understand better the contribution and impact music making can have on personal, social and educational development of 9-13 year olds

We would wish to increase the evidence base in order to influence policy and practice. This would possibly lead to a campaign around the power of music in transition, creating impetus for change and provide a central focus for the wider strategy.