How do we collaboratively develop
a sustainable music manifesto with
the help of a creative and cultural
organisation?
Gatley Teaching School Alliance
Rachel Forrest, Gatley Primary School
July 2014
Gatley Cultural Alliance Research Project
The aim of this report is to reflect upon and evaluate the working processes and the
outcomes of the Gatley Cultural Alliance Research Project. The Gatley Cultural Alliance is
a small working party involving three primary schools, which share the same vision for
uniquely embedding the arts and culture in their schools.
When forming the alliance, challenges arose in attracting schools that did not give a high
priority to embedding an enhanced arts and cultural provision within their schools, or that
had little experience of partnership working. During this period many other initiatives and
offers were being considered, but the alliance was eventually formed to include Gatley
Primary School, Norrisbank Primary School and Bolshaw Primary School. The three
schools had differing approaches to exposing young learners to the arts and culture,
depending on their budget allocations, staffing expertise and approaches to the
curriculum.
Reflecting on the schools’ development plans and their arts and cultural needs audits, it
was decided that the high-quality, value-for-money arts organisation Brighter Sound,
based at Band on the Wall in Manchester, demonstrated significant strengths in
addressing the needs of the alliance and its schools.1
The alliance quickly acknowledged the potential of this partnership during the project’s
initial stages, seeing it as a way of exploring what was possible, sharing knowledge for
mutual benefit and addressing the needs of the research question. Both the alliance and
individual schools sought to develop a sustainable partnership with Brighter Sound
beyond the initial project.
Having reflected upon the ways a prospective music project could potentially meet the
needs of its young participants; we sought to measure its qualitative impact. Music can
make a powerful contribution to the education and development of children. It is a unique
form of communication that can change the way pupils feel, think and act. Ofsted say that
children’s involvement in music engages and re-engages pupils, increasing their selfesteem and maximising their progress in education and not just in music.2
The alliance agreed that for this project able and potentially able young instrumentalists
and singers were to be selected by their class teachers, since ensuring progression
routes for emerging musicians in a school context can be challenging, depending on the
expertise and resources available to the school. Within the alliance, music education
provision varied greatly, from individual peripatetic lessons for interested learners, to
choirs and ensembles led by expert and non-expert teaching staff. These inconsistencies
showed a need for future collaboration with a music hub to explore and develop
accessible opportunities and progression routes into music. Schools alone cannot be
1
http://www.brightersound.com
‘Making More of Music: An Evaluation of Music in Schools 2005/08’, Osted, February 2009, in ‘The Importance of
Music: A National Plan for Music Education’, Department for Education, 2011.
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180973/DFE-00086-2011.pdf
2
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Gatley Cultural Alliance Research Project
expected to do all that is required of music education: a music infrastructure that
transcends schools is necessary. This is where the role of the hubs is so crucial,
providing children whose needs extend beyond what individual schools can offer.3 The
alliance concluded that during this pilot project, exploring challenging opportunities for
able young musicians, facilitated by Brighter Sound, would set a benchmark of
possibilities for future actions involving a wider range of children and their needs.
One school, having an already very well established music provision, looked for ways to
invigorate and enhance practice, giving children an opportunity to learn in a new, cuttingedge way that reflected modern practices. Another school, facing budgeting constraints
and socio-economic disadvantage amongst its learners, sought to give their children the
opportunity to engage with the arts and culture from a real-world, accessible perspective.
Gatley Primary School, already established in the field of partnership working, set out with
the remit of reaching out further to high-quality and good-value partners in order to
develop teaching practice and revise the overarching arts and cultural policy in line with
the school’s current ethos and vision for the future.
The alliance took a flexible and open approach to the project, responding to the changes
resulting from the research. For example, initially, the research question focused on
developing a sustainable music curriculum. As the project evolved, it appeared that this
would be ineffective, as schools engage with curriculums in different ways. In consultation
with Brighter Sound, the alliance decided that it could instead collaboratively develop a
sustainable music manifesto that was flexible and open to interpretation, adaptable to
each school’s ethos, value system and vision. A manifesto would prove to be effective in
providing many opportunities for practitioners, learners and stakeholders from across the
alliance to contribute to it. Ultimately it would become an overarching arts and cultural
manifesto – a collaborative, open working document, devised by all and creatively
interpreted by all. This would form part of the collaborative process of continuing
professional development (CPD) with Brighter Sound.
Initially, the project was approached in a workshop format within the three schools
individually, with a theme for the project planned collaboratively by the young musicians.
Their personal cultural experiences varied, but it was vital that they had the opportunity to
explore and appreciate the arts and culture, in this instance music, as an authentic and
primary learning experience. Collaborating with and learning from professional musicians
with up-to-date, progressive teaching knowledge was a highly authentic, meaningful and
primary learning resource. Opportunities such as this can give young learners a reason,
showing them ‘why’ and ‘how’, not simply ‘because’.
The young musicians ‘came to life’ and immersed themselves into the project with
dedication, commitment and tenacity. The project was seen to give children a better
understanding of a process, of the hard work and commitment needed, and of how life in
the arts can evolve. It could also serve to inspire their futures from a perspective of
knowledge and experience that can then be nurtured. The transferable skills, attributes
3
Ibid.
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Gatley Cultural Alliance Research Project
and aptitudes they have had the opportunity to develop – such as the work ethic,
dedication, problem-solving skills, risk taking, developing confidence, self-esteem,
collaborative techniques and communication skills – are all essential to a successful,
fulfilling life.
The process turned out to be a journey of discovery and enlightenment for some young
musicians, who took these valuable insights and transferred them into other areas of the
curriculum and classroom activities. Teachers of the participants reported an increase in
positivity and outward confidence, pride, self-awareness and happiness in having their
strengths recognised on a performance platform they had not been familiar with before.
Young musicians, although already musically able, had the opportunity to develop their
performance confidence and thus their inner strength, raising their self-esteem.
There have been many requests for further opportunities of this kind from learners,
parents and staff, demonstrating changing attitudes towards taking part in music
activities. These are the sort of changes, which we aspire as educationalists to nurture,
but find challenging to quantify. The benefits of such experiences may not be quantified,
economically or otherwise, until much later on in a learner’s life. However, the prospective
social outcomes can be acknowledged and are outlined in the report ‘Understanding the
Value and Impacts of Cultural Experiences’, which stresses the cost savings and
contributions that happy, educated people produce for society.4
The process of working with professional musicians became ‘real’ for the participating
children, creating a vision of an obtainable aspiration, removing any mystical associations
of ‘being a musician’. This echoes a viewpoint, which can be found in the Youth Music
Quality Framework, which shows that musical processes can be demystified when
children work with experts.5 As educationalists, we should be looking to expose children
to as many primary, tangible, real-life learning experiences as we can, particularly with
experts; otherwise we may end up by unnecessarily restricting their perspective of, and
prospects in life.
As teaching practitioners we are aware of the fundamental importance of role models,
who are of immeasurable value to young people. Interacting with experts within their field
who brought an alternative approach to learning proved to be invigorating for the young
musicians. Providing learning experiences that enthuse, engage and inspire is of the
utmost importance, particularly since children currently experience the arts, in this case
music, through sophisticated interfaces. This continually creates new challenges for
educationalists, who must refine their approach to learning with these platforms in mind.
The project generated parental feedback that was incredibly positive. For example: “I
hope you are doing that again next year”; “Gatley has never done anything like this
J.D. Carnwath and A.S. Brown, ‘Understanding the Value and Impacts of Cultural Experiences: A Literature Review’,
Arts Council England, 2014,
http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/browse-advice-and-guidance/understanding-value-and-impactscultural-experiences
4
5
Youth Music Quality Framework, http://www.artsmark.org.uk/blog/new-quality-framework-youth-music
July 2014
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before, to my knowledge”; “My son has had music lessons for a while now, but I never
knew he would be able to do that – he had such confidence”; “Absolutely stunning – well
done”; and “What a fabulous opportunity to work with those musicians and children from
other schools, my daughter hasn’t stopped talking about it!” It is clear from this feedback
that stakeholder support is strong. Sharing learning of this kind can refresh parents’
opinions of educational delivery.
This project has invigorated teaching staff across the alliance schools to work towards
implementing further partnership projects to support their curriculums. Future project
plans include those that involve a wider range of children on a national platform, transition
projects to include secondary schools, music technology, and after-school club provision.
Teaching staff across the alliance have been consulted during CPD sessions about the
most successful pathways for Brighter Sound partnership to be embedded into the
schools’ curriculums. Termly music-+planning sessions with experts will take place in
order to achieve this. Working in partnership with Brighter Sound has demonstrated the
potential for innovation in music curriculum delivery. The aim is to develop the skills of
teaching staff by co-teaching with experts to deliver curriculum objectives in line with the
teaching approaches of each school. Working alongside experts using cutting-edge
practices will undoubtedly enable practitioners to build the tools and confidence to
facilitate engaging, innovative music experiences. These skills and attributes might serve
to invigorate any area of the curriculum, opening educational potential and broadening
access opportunities.
The CPD sessions across the alliance, in conjunction with feedback from the young
musicians, also served to establish a broad framework for the music manifesto. This
contains many ideas: for example, that children can lead musically, that experiences
count, that music can be taken home and can involve the family; that access
opportunities can be given to everyone, involving co-teaching with experts, recording,
sharing; that children can collaborate, express a positive vibe, use specialist models,
have access to ideas, generate confidence, and produce with a purpose. They can
celebrate and shine, find accessible role models, use creative resources, invest, be
challenged and progress, develop key skills, enjoy hidden talents. They can use case
studies, toolkits and ideas banks. They can apply, reflect, and forge common bonds – in
new spaces, at other schools, at social events. They can develop technical skills and use
creativity.
Each school will interpret the manifesto in its own way and utilise it according to its own
provisions. Gatley Primary School has yet to complete its ‘arts and culture manifesto’ and
will refer these ideas back to the wider school community and Brighter Sound before
finalising its plans.
Working in partnership with a creative and cultural organisation has been the stimulus for
the alliance to identify the key drivers that should underpin the music manifesto. The
young musicians within the alliance have achieved this by observing and participating in a
meaningful cultural learning experience, realising what is important in steering their
ambitions. This is a testament to the importance of creating partnerships with high-quality
partners, and should be endorsed widely. The mutual benefits and prospects for schools
and partners alike are highly valuable.
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‘Working with Rachel on the SliCE programme was a brilliant process for Brighter Sound
to be involved with. We have built a strong partnership with the alliance of schools and
intend to grow and develop the work over the next academic year. The partnership with
the alliance has informed our practice as a cultural organisation and working partner of
Band on the Wall.’ (Debra King, Director, Brighter Sound)
One of the cornerstones of education is captured in the governmental catchphrase, ‘All
children matter’; does it follow from this that ‘all areas of learning matter’? Do we prioritise
children’s educational experiences based on driving future economies or industries? We
need to continue to engage children in the arts and culture for many reasons; most
notably, perhaps, to inspire within them an appreciation of the arts and of their own future
cultural engagement, and to develop the many transferable skills that such engagement
can offer. It might be said that such opportunities promote creativity and creative thinking.
Creativity in children may be ‘learning’, but creativity in adults can translate into socioeconomic viability. Educationalists are at the grass roots, where they have the huge
responsibility of cultivating and nurturing ‘all children’; therefore all areas of learning must
be given equal priority. Education must be socially conscious.
July 2014
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