The New National Plan For Music Education Has Been Released
The refreshed National Plan for Music Education, titled ‘The power of music to change lives’, has been released by the Departments of Education, and Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport.
Voices Foundation, a national music charity working to help schools, welcomed the plan while committing to review the detail closely. In the last year, Voices Foundation has impacted over 50,000 children across the UK, trained and mentored 1,405 teachers, worked with 70 schools and four music hubs to improve children’s access to high-quality music education.
The Power of Music to Change Lives: A National Plan for Music Education (NPME) builds on the original 2011 plan ‘responding to the change of the past 11 years and recognising that more needs to be done to support teachers, leaders, schools, trusts and Hubs to deliver the best for children and young people’.
A large selection of the schools Voices Foundation works with are primary. The chapter "Music in Primary Schools" (page 28) highlighted the significance of singing during these years.
“Music should be embedded in every primary school. Singing should be the golden thread through these years, with a clear commitment to quality teaching and opportunities for progression for all children from the start of their school education.”
“Singing is key to developing musicianship and will be a core part of the curriculum offer at primary.”
Key announcements in the plan include:
Key Stages 1-3 should have at least one hour per week of 'high quality' curriculum music
Tens of thousands of pupils will be given the chance to learn a musical. instrument, with new funding worth £25 million for schools to purchase musical instruments and equipment available.
£79 million made available every year until 2025 for the Music Hubs programme
Every school will be expected to have a designated music lead or head of department
Every school should write and publish a 'Music Development Plan', including information on how music is staffed and funded
The plan's confirmation that music should play a significant role in the curriculum is particularly welcome news for Voices Foundation, which has long advocated for this.
Responding to the refreshed plan, Manvinder Rattan, CEO of Voices Foundation said:
‘‘The new plan presents us with an excellent opportunity to bring music education right to the top of the agenda - every child in this country needs and deserves an excellent music education and Voices Foundation is determined to play its part in helping ensure this happens.’’
‘The power of music to change lives’ first chapter discusses how early years settings and schools, including their leadership teams and academy trusts that drive them, can achieve the first goal of seeing all children and young people receive high-quality music education. Voices Foundation is mentioned amongst a number of organisations that offer resources and support to teachers so they can deliver high-quality music education.
‘‘We do not expect early years providers, schools and trusts to do this alone. They should draw on the offer from their local Music Hub, and (when established) its Lead Schools for Music to help develop and embed high-quality curricular and co-curricular music, captured in the school’s Music Development Plan.’ There are also a wide range of organisations providing resources and support to empower teachers to deliver high-quality music education, including the BBC, ABRSM and singing focused programmes such as Sing Up and the Voices Foundation.’’
Voices Foundation would like to express its gratitude to the government representatives and members of the expert panel for their arduous work on the National Plan for Music Education.