6 minute read
Tell me what they want, what they really, really want?
Dr Liz Stafford analyses Ofsted’s latest recommendations for music in schools
Lukewarm on the heels of the Music Subject Research Review (2021), Ofsted have now published their long promised companion piece the Music Subject Report. This latest report draws on findings from 50 schools visited by Ofsted inspectors between December 2022 and June 2023, 25 of which were primary schools.
I found it really encouraging to see that the report actually paints a reasonably positive picture of music at primary level. So often we get blamed for things that are totally out of our control, like GCSE take-up numbers! It is great to have some positive praise for once, and in particular the acknowledgement that there are things, such as singing, that we might do better than secondary schools! It was equally good to have a reminder that the quality of music provision is intrinsically tied to its quantity - in that the schools which had stronger music were devoting adequate time to this on a weekly basis - and a particular discouragement of ‘music days’ in place of regular timetabling commitment.
Another strong theme permeating this report, like the Music Subject Research Review before it, is the idea of ‘less is more.’ This report noted that the most successful schools were those which did not try to cram too much into their curriculums, but instead focused on repetition and incremental learning of core skills. The inspectors noted too that that the most effective schools gave children practice time and feedback to improve their work before moving on to the next lesson or activity. In a crammed timetable, often taught by non-specialists, it is easy to see how this aspect could be lost in a race to cover content. It is always a delicate balancing act in arts subjects in primary schools between wanting to give children as many opportunities and experiences as possible, and sticking at something for long enough to develop real skill and understanding, especially when the teacher may feel they lack that skill and understanding themselves! Hopefully this renewed messaging from Ofsted will encourage schools to really consider the balance between content and skills-development further.
It's no surprise whatsoever to see Ofsted noting that music provision is better in schools with more involved senior leadership who value music, but it was good to see them highlight the fact that while even the ‘good’ SLTs are realistic about their team’s music subject knowledge, it was rare for these to be a clear plan for developing staff knowledge. Perhaps now Ofsted have said this out loud, teachers might find it easier to request and access CPD for music, although given that the report also found that schools were struggling with budgetary pressures there may still be significant barriers in the way of this.
The starkest finding was most definitely ‘there remains a divide between the opportunities for children and young people whose families can afford to pay for music tuition and for those who come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.’ This is a continual and continuing problem with no easy fix, as music is always going to be an ‘expensive’ subject in terms of the specialist equipment and tuition required. I don’t think this problem can be solved in isolation, and that it might take a radical overhaul of the entire education and social welfare systems to address.
What does the report recommend?
Ofsted recommends that schools design their curriculums backwards from ‘precise end points in performance, composition and listening work’ to ensure pupils can progress step-by-step towards these goals, and that curriculums build ‘incrementally, pupils’ knowledge of the technical and constructive aspects of music.’ They also recommend that schools set aside enough time to actually deliver this curriculum successfully. These recommendations are eminently sensible, and echo thinking on music curriculum planning from experts such as Professor Martin Fautley (whose article on this subject you can find in one of our earlier issues).
With perhaps a slightly optimistic outlook, Ofsted recommends the use of ongoing feedback and teacher demonstration to improve the technical and expressive quality of pupils’ musical responses. While I don’t disagree with this goal, for those schools with non-specialist music provision this can be a tall order without some support and training, and Ofsted must recognise this because another of their recommendations is to ‘continuously develop teachers’ subject knowledge’ specifically around what musical success ‘sounds like’ in relation to their own curriculum. Coincidentally, Music Education Solutions launched a CPD course this year called ‘Developing Core Skills in Primary Music’ precisely to address this issue, before Ofsted had highlighted it in their report! Perhaps I’ll start playing the lottery just in case...
Another recommendation is to seek expert support when designing the curriculum, and provide specific support for subject leaders to ensure that the curriculum ‘deliberately and incrementally teaches all pupils to become more musical.’ Maybe someone at Ofsted has a psychic connection with me (a frightening thought!) as this is again something I’ve been doing a lot of over the past few years through our consultancy service and ‘Curriculum Design in Music’ courses. I’m a big believer in schools having the confidence to take ownership of their curriculum, whether they design it themselves from scratch or not, so it’s good to see Ofsted recognising this as important.
The final recommendation for schools is perhaps the most practically problematic one, with Ofsted stating they should ‘make sure that’ they offer extra-curricular music activities, and vocal and instrumental lessons. This is, of course, an expectation from the National Plan for Music Education as well, and I don’t have an issue with the sentiment, however at a time when school budgets are squeezed to their limits, and the future of England’s Music Hubs is up in the air beyond 2025, this goal is going to be a hard one for many schools to achieve in any meaningful, sustainable way.
So what do Ofsted really, really want? Well clearly they want music in schools to be better, and based on this report they seem to have broadly the right ideas to start that process of improvement. Systemic issues and budgetary constraints aside, there is much in this report that schools can act on to develop their own music provision should they choose to do so.
