Ofsted announces new programme of music inspections
14 January 2013, Rhian Morgan
Mark Phillips HMI, Ofsted’s national adviser for music, has ordered a series of school visits in the next few months, focusing on 'the effectiveness of music subject leadership by subject' and 'the extent to which the leadership of the local music hub is supporting and augmenting musical teaching and learning in that school'.
Visits will take place in primary, secondary and special schools, including academies, and schools will be given up to five days’ notice of a visit so that arrangements can be made with the music hub or partner organisation. A report on the visits will be published in autumn.
The aim is to follow up the findings of the 2012 Ofsted music reports Wider Still and Wider and Sound Partnerships, and to monitor the early impact of the music hubs. Phillips says inspectors will not be reporting individual judgments on the overall quality of achievement, teaching and the curriculum in each school.
'We acknowledge that it might be too soon to see significant progress with some of the priorities that we’ve set out in our 2012 reports, such as substantial changes in participation rates between different groups of pupils and significantly better musical teaching,' said Phillips. 'But we believe also that we should expect, already, to see noticeable improvements in the way that music is managed in schools, particularly by senior leaders and through partnerships with the music hubs.'
Fiona Pendreigh, chair of the National Association of Music Educators, agrees that improvements should already be evident: 'Although it is too soon to see progress with some of the outcomes expected from hub work, there is no doubt that with the wealth of reports and case studies to draw on, improvement in the way music is being managed within schools should be evident.
She added: 'It would be encouraging if schools, including the teachers, saw themselves more as partners within the hubs than previously, when they were perhaps more of a client of the music service. The integration of schools within the hubs is key to the provision of high quality music education for all children.'
