John Witchell's Chief Executive blog

If you haven’t aready done so it’s worth looking at Tom Service’s latest blog on the Guardian website
www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/nov/10/in-harmony-music-project. Tom, who writes so passionately about music, is clear about the value of projects such as In Harmony, but also the vulnerability of music education funding. He rightly emphasises the value of the initiative and I would concur with his enthusiasm; there is some amazing work going on with children who are already beginning to rekindle their self-esteem through music. But I know that the whole spectrum of music service provision is making a significant difference to the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people across the UK. And that is the story we now need to tell.

In the latest edition of our ‘Aspirations’, Howard Goodall argues passionately for music services - but he also gives us a warning not to rest on our laurels. It’s no longer any good being the unsung heroes, or as someone else put it, the silent giant; we’ve got to be more effective and clear about telling our message. We know that music is working, but we have not yet conveyed that message with sufficient clarity. Do we celebrate the numerous performances that take place every day? Are we clear about the impact of the Wider Opportunities programme (watch out for the report that will be launched at the next Burning Issues conference on 29th January)? Does the world out there know and value what we do? The answer is perhaps not yet as affirmative as it should be.

So here are four simple things that I believe we should put into practice.
1. Every music service should offer a celebration event for ‘Tune In’ - the Year of Music. We can co-ordinate it at the FMS and let the DCSF know through their agents Freud.
2. Every music service should celebrate loudly the positive findings from their self-evaluation. But we should also ensure that areas for development are tackled positively. For instance, across the country I would like to raise the amount of teaching and learning considered to be good from a healthy 75% to a fantastic 100%. We’re making headway, so we just need to continue to make the improvements.
3. The FMS should continue to shout louder about the fabulous things that take place every day in every music service. Already the Think Again team have visited twenty five services across the country and been bowled over by the energy and commitment of those who are delivering from day to day. This investment in communication is long overdue, but it is already clear that we are beginning to reap the rewards.
4. We must think positively about what we offer to society - not what we want society to give to us. We are not part of a problem; we are part of the solution e.g. in reducing the achievement gap, in raising academic standards, or providing opportunities for all children, schools and families.

I am immensely proud of the work of music services. We know how to teach children, we value and support our workforce, we nurture our talent by providing secure pathways for learning and, most importantly, we care for music and we care for children. But I am also ambitious. I want Music services to continue to thrive whoever governs the country. I know that they will, because music is working and it is working because of what music services do.

← An autumn accelerando is an earlier blog entry Raising the bar is a more recent blog entry →

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 12th, 2009 at 11:05 pm and is filed under Blog.

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