Ebacc for the Future
I have been thinking a lot about the changes in education recently and am concerned at the reported drop in take up of arts subjects at GCSE level and beyond.
My work as a music teacher in the primary schools in Birmingham constantly affirm to me that the performing arts play a vital role in the development and well-being of children. The children in my choirs who sing so confidently and purposefully are often those children who struggle to fit into the “one size fits all” curriculum.
The value of the arts does not diminish as children get older. In fact, as children become young adults, I believe the arts have an even more vital role to play in helping teenagers understand and negotiate the world they are discovering around them. Working towards a joint performance can provide a safe environment for exploring difficult subjects, and the sense of achievement at the end can be a great encouragement.
I was recently at such a performance in a local secondary school, Queensbridge. For one week the pupils in year 7 had worked towards a performance, looking at the two aspects of refugees and social media. The end performance was a fusion of music, drama and dance. I was struck by the content of the work which showed how the pupils must have discussed and researched so many of the aspects of these two complicated subjects. The best bit was how they seemed to enjoy themselves in the performance and how proud they were at the end.
It is frustrating that the benefits of subjects like music seem to be purposefully ignored. For those people who have learnt an instrument, or watch a child learn an instrument, the opportunities for developing self-discipline, perseverance, resilience, cognitive development, co-ordination and much more besides are so obvious. All these attributes enhance learning in all disciplines and have been proven to do so. And this doesn’t even begin to touch on the possibilities of progress made in other subjects when self-esteem is nurtured and encouraged through performance and creativity.
The Independent Society of Musicians is doing a brilliant job at raising awareness for the changes that are being considered at secondary level, particularly for the Ebacc.
There have been proposals to make certain subject compulsory at iGCSE level. These subjects do not include any performing arts subjects and, even though the Ebacc has not been set in stone yet, schools are already seeing a drop in numbers of pupils taking these arts subjects as schools begin to focus more on science, maths and English.
There is still time to make a difference and make changes to the proposals.
Bacc for the Future is set up to make writing to your MP easy, and to give you a voice to express concerns.
The perfoming arts underpin our society and give children and young adults opportunities that are valuable and unique in their education. I hope we can make the change that acknowledges their importance in our education system.