In Jan, Feb, June and July 2010, there are a number of training days taking place at Musical Futures Champion schools around the country. If you would like to attend a training day then details are available on the ‘training’ tab. If you would like to arrange a visit to a champion school to see Musical Futures classes in action, then please email Ruth Bowdage at musicalfutures@phf.org.uk
On Friday 22nd Jan, at Longhill High School in Brighton, delegates were invited to showcase their musical talents by participating in a year 8 project based on ‘We Will Rock You’. In small groups led by year 8 pupils from the school, delegates learned to play guitar, bass and drums then put together performances which impressed the year 8s who had no idea that music teachers could actually play instruments! At Longhill, the music department has integrated Musical Futures projects into the curriculum which runs alongside Arts Practitioner and Art Award qualifications. The Head of Music at the school is now devising a curriculum to include many aspects of the Musical Futures approach which can be found in the resources area of the website here.
Also on 22nd Jan, use of 6th form musicians as mentors was the theme of the day at St Thomas More RC High School, North Shields as delegates were given details about the curriculum and how Musical Futures projects have been integrated into the department.
At Benton Park School in Leeds on 27th Jan, delegates were treated to a wealth of musical performances by pupils from the school including a year 7 whole class performance of ‘Teenage Kicks’ using ukuleles, bass, keyboards and vocals and a year 10 BTEC ensemble showcasing their current performance. Members of year 9 also demonstrated the work they have been doing in class using informal learning approaches. At Benton Park, students follow a steep learning curve from year 7 where they experience improvising, composing, performing and vital instrumental skills through classroom workshopping, followed by more small group work in years 8 and 9 to year 10 where the music BTEC qualification is a popular option at KS4.
On 28th Jan, delegates at Forest Hill emulated the student experience in a well equipped and thriving music department in this busy London School. Details of the equipment they use for students to achieve the high standards of musical attainment can be found here
Non-formal teaching formed the basis of the day at Harrogate Grammar School where delegates 'became' a Year 8 class for the morning and experienced classroom workshopping through the eyes of a pupil! Emily Segal, Head of Music at the school, put the delegates through their paces and by the end of the session, all felt that they had gained a real insight into non-formal teaching in a classroom situation. Later that morning, a class of Year 8 students showcased their band skills, each group performing their own version of the Gnarls Barkley hit 'Crazy'. Delegates were impressed by the high standards of musicianship and obvious confidence displayed by the pupils, many of whom have never had formal instrumental lessons.
In the afternoon, song writing was the theme with delegates once again taking the role of pupils as they looked in depth at a song by the popular Sheffield band, the Arctic Monkeys. Year 9 pupils are encouraged to analyse a song of their choice by looking at the subject matter, structure, word patterns and rhymes, chord sequences and melodies before using their knowledge to write a song of their own. By allowing pupils to work initially with a song of their own choosing as a catalyst for their own compositions, they are enthused and motivated to produce their own song.
Delegates thoroughly enjoyed the day and as one instrumental teacher commented, "I found in particular that I was able to learn and experience more techniques relating to dealing with whole classes - as the course was run by a class teacher."
Integrating Musical Futures with approaches outlined in the National Strategy for Music was demonstrated at Greendown Community School in Swindon on Feb 4th. Students follow projects from Reggae to Music Tech learning to play a number of songs on guitar, bass and drums whilst experiencing whole class music making from year 7 onwards. Further details will be available for download from the resources area of the website soon.
At Waddesdon C of E school on Friday Feb 5th, delegates were given an excellent introduction to Musical Futures with the opportunity to watch a year 9 lunchtime concert, a year 8 songwriting lesson and then went 'in at the deep end' to have a go at replicating one of the projects from the informal learning model. At Waddesdon, students begin their options courses in year 9, so the music department have integrated musical futures approaches into years 7 and 8 with great success. Once the year 8 songs are finished, it will be possible to link to their numu pages to listen to them so watch this space for details! A copy of the schemes of work and student worksheet can be downloaded here and the accompanying resources can be found here
At High Storrs School, Sheffield, delegates were given a thorough introduction to Musical Futures approaches including - MF principles, role of the teacher, description of informal learning and how the approach can be applied to genres other than pop and rock music, as well as information about the impact that adopoting informal approaches has had on the school. Eventually they aim to have their KS4 and 5 students becoming more self-reliant and less dependant on teacher led activities beyond KS3. There was an opportunity to watch a Year 9 group working in a music lesson and delegates also were introduced to the NUMU website.
