A uniquely human and humanising activity: a reflection on why music education matters

After an insightful Music Education Conference at Bryanston yesterday, the Director of Music, Stephen Williams, reflects on why music education matters...

Even during the high-octane political turmoil of recent weeks, news about the decline of music education made it onto the BBC News at Ten. The BBC’s theme – that the serious underfunding of music provision will have an impact for generations – is supported by an increasing amount of evidence. No one is immune; the effects are being felt in independent and free schools, in academies, in the maintained sector and in the county music hubs. Two of our leading institutions, the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, have issued a joint statement: This is a matter of significant importance not only for the higher music education sector but also for the pipeline of musicians of all types for this country and beyond.

The UK’s recorded music industry has contributed over £5 billion, in music exports, to the UK economy since 2000. We have some of the finest orchestras, soloists and choirs in the world; we are an undoubted international leader in all forms of music-making.

Music has a positive impact on the well-being and mental health of the nation and stimulates the developing brain in the way that no other activity can. Not just that, it represents a refuge for those who live with dementia and Alzheimer’s; singing and playing should clearly be prescribed.

We have just hosted a national Music Education Conference. Delegates came from around the UK to hear specialists talk about the ways that we can stem that decline. Jimmy Rotherham is the remarkable music teacher at Feversham Primary School. Set in an impoverished area of Bradford, and after many years in special measures, the school took the bold decision to saturate the day with music; singing in assembly, sums to a tune, a staff choir, literacy through singing, percussion work for co-ordination and composure. The results were remarkable and led the school to achieve ‘outstanding’ status. Behaviour, attainment and attendance were all transformed.

Three of the speakers talked about that popular myth of being either intrinsically (genetically?) ‘musical’ or ‘unmusical’. It is in fact the case that every one of us absolutely can make music. Indeed, research into the origins of our species shows that our larynxes were designed initially for song rather than speech. We, musicians, need to hold up our hands and recognise that we have a crucial role in discouraging the negative feedback that leads young children to believe that they are either unmusical or unable to sing.

We believe that ours is a uniquely human and humanising activity. With that in mind, the whole D year group (Year 9) are learning songs from Les Misérables to sing in the London Concert on 25 October. Their focus and singing have been remarkable and their conversations about the themes of those songs – love, loss, alienation, rejection, injustice and compassion – have been powerful. Words and music are such a potent mix; meaning and emotion coalesced. At this week’s Musicians’ Showcase we witnessed Honey H creating a uniquely compelling silence as she communicated the text of her song. Every week we are fortunate, as music teachers, to witness these special moments.

Simon Toyne spoke at the conference about his work as Executive Director of Music in 34 academy schools. Echoing earlier speakers, he talked about the impact on behaviour and achievement across all of those schools and the civilising influence of music even on the pupils who hear it as they walk past morning rehearsals.

A 25% drop in the number of pupils taking GCSE Music nationally over the past ten years and a consequent reduction of A level numbers by 40% is sobering and that is mirrored in a reduction in those who take part in music ensembles. At the same time our understanding of the deep, positive and lasting neurological impact of music on our sons and daughters increases every day. Every teenager in the UK undertakes several subjects and activities that they wouldn’t otherwise choose to study. As the research into the developmental importance of music gathers pace, perhaps we will soon make it our universal practice to include ensemble singing and playing in that compulsory portfolio of subjects.

What are scholarships and who are they for?

Scholarships can often be a grey area, especially if you are not familiar with independent education. Bryanston’s Admissions Registrar, Anne Megdiche provides a simple overview of what they entail and why pupils should apply for them.

Is my child good enough? What’s involved? Is it too much pressure? Who are they for?

While scholarships are open to all, there are usually two main reasons why a pupil would sit one: either the pupil is talented in a specific area and wishes to have the prestige that being a scholar affords, or it is seen as a way to secure fee remission to enable them to attend the school.

Scholarship options and their actual benefits will vary hugely from school to school. For some, they will be honorary only, while other schools will offer substantial fee remission. However, in most schools, scholarships can be augmented by means-tested bursaries, offering opportunities at an independent school that might otherwise be unaffordable.

Your child’s current school is usually the best starting point to decide if a scholarship is the most appropriate route of entry for your child. A discussion with the Head will give you a good indication of whether your child would be suitable to apply for a scholarship (or scholarships), and which would be best suited to them. Their current school will also know if your child would be able to cope, not only with the scholarship assessment process, but also with the mantle that being a scholar can bring. Equally, they will know whether their pupil can realistically manage personal expectations and has the wherewithal not to have their confidence dented if they are not awarded a scholarship.

The primary benefit of a scholarship, for some, will be the financial. Currently, Bryanston scholarships offer fee remission of up to 25%, and this can be further enhanced by means-tested bursaries for those who require it. However, even if this is the primary benefit, it isn’t just parents who should benefit from a scholarship!  Scholars themselves receive specialist support in their subject, over and above that which is available to all pupils, and will be expected to be a positive and driving force within their area(s) of expertise. At Bryanston, music scholars receive free music lessons, Alexander Technique and a weekly accompaniment lesson, very much in line with specialist music schools, but they will also be involved in a wide variety of musical performances within school and the wider community. They need to show commitment, no matter how tired or busy they are, and will need to take ownership of their practice. Sportscholars will benefit from our Performance Sport Programme (PSP), but they will also regularly represent the school or their county, and perhaps even nation, in sporting events. Training as we all know can be tough and your child may sustain injuries but, even when not playing, they will still support their team’s cause. In all areas, scholars are encouraged to lead by example, and they are given the tools to do this.

Scholarships are highly competitive, more and more so each year, and if you enter your child for a scholarship you must be clear that your child is robust enough to cope with not receiving an award. You cannot ‘fail’ a scholarship, but the majority of those who apply are likely to be unsuccessful; your child must be in a position to understand this crucial difference. So much of any attempt is down to their performance and attitude on the day, and we all have bad days! However, not being awarded a scholarship will not exclude them from accessing bursarial support, if required, and the school does its best to support pupils who will be an asset to the school community.

I often find myself telling prospective scholars that by simply attending the assessment days they are already winners. They have been prepared to stick their heads above the parapet and take a risk – even if they are not awarded a scholarship, they have shown us what they are capable of and will be firmly on the radar when they start. Scholarships should be seen as an opportunity for pupils to throw their hat into the ring, irrespective of the outcome, and our aim is to make the assessment day(s) as much fun as possible.

I would therefore say to any pupil considering a scholarship: ‘If you’re up for a challenge, give it a go. This really is a case of nothing ventured, nothing gained, and you won’t know until you try.’

Find out more information about scholarships at Bryanston,  

“Men maketh the city, not the walls”

Living and working in a boarding school one inevitably slices up time according to terms and holidays. I think teachers must be some of the worst offenders in the crime of wishing your life away to the next holiday. And yet when a holiday arrives, whilst the first days, for me at least, are a relief as I don’t need to wear a suit and can wear antique jeans and sweaters, I soon find I miss the busy-ness of the school full of pupils and I start measuring the time until they return. The place seems empty without all that youthful vim.

A school needs to be full and active. There should be noise and energy and activity. This term we returned to find the new music school inhabited and ready to go in its teaching and learning functions. And what a joy it has been! Richard Baker, our remarkable percussion teacher, has had a smile as broad as the Mersey Tunnel (as they say where I was brought up). Duncan Emerson is patiently adding to his roles of maestro conductor and Director of Music that of tour guide around this new box of delights. Pupils are eager to get into the practice rooms, classical and pop. The place is, as I suppose befits a music school, humming.

But this is not about the fact that we have a very expensive, very beautiful, very exciting, very well-equipped building. This is all about what can be done therein. And what it will allow our – and I very much hope other – pupils to achieve musically because of the facilities and the opportunities to learn which the building allows.

Preetpal Bachra, Hsm of Connaught and old boy of Bradford Grammar School (a fine nurse of men), and I were talking of school mottos recently. He told me that his school motto was ‘hoc age’, which might be translated as “Get on with it!” A fine motto, not just for ambitious young Yorkshire men, but for us all; and not least with the opportunities we have afforded to us here at Bryanston. But it’s the Bradford Grammar School Speech Day creed which I think really hits the spot. It is, gratifyingly, a piece of Thucydides: “Men maketh the city, not the walls”. A memorable creed and not just because of the classical root. A school is indeed about its pupils and what they can achieve, and categorically not about bricks and mortar. At Bryanston we strive to give our pupils the ability to achieve remarkable things and it is this aim that is at the centre of all we plan. hoc age!