Thursday 3rd September 2015

[HindleA]

FFS shortly I may be subject to patronising(with barely concealed threats)bullshit like this



https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... come-guide" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[utopiandreams]

@HindleA

I appreciate you may be busy today but should you look in I hope all goes well, A. May frowns and looks of concern be replaced by smiles and good cheer. She deserves that.

[LadyCentauria]

@tubby: You asked whether or not music teachers are expensive. The current Musician's Union rate for teaching is at least £31.50 per hour - £10.00 per twenty-minutes - although not everyone is a member and survey's last year showed that people were being paid between about £25 and £35 per hour, usually the lower in the country and higher in London. Some (if not most) LA Music Services used to employ people on traditional teaching pay scales, either full-time or pro-rata, together with pensions etc., (hence a lower hourly rate but better job-security) but you'd have to have at least NQT status in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, or TQ in Scotland for that. Music Services would usually employ a mixture of freelance staff and qualified teachers, and they certainly used to own (either bought with LA funds or donated) and/or lease just about enough instruments to loan to students until they were able to get their own. I couldn't tell you how many people a typical Music Service would need to employ, though.

When I was at school the LA Music Service was very well funded. Tuition was provided at no cost to students in all state-funded secondary schools from Secondary Moderns, through to the grant-maintained (semi-independent) schools. Instrument rental was free for the first year with a modest charge for future years. Infant and Junior schools had teaching support for choirs, recorders, violins, and percussion - and for ensembles and concerts/events. The Secondary Schools had choirs, ensembles, and orchestras – again with support (and sometimes padding) from the Music Service teachers, too. Beyond that, students could audition to join the borough's Youth Wind Band, Schools' Choirs, and/or Youth Philharmonic Orchestra - all of which involved weekly rehearsals, Easter and Summer Schools (two six-day weeks of workshops, masterclasses and rehearsals) and a series of national competitions, and local and national concerts. (A claim to fame, here: I first played the Royal Festival Hall at the age of seven, accompanying our school choir on my guitar with three other girls - whom I had helped to teach - as we went on to win the National School Choirs competition, in the Juniors section. It wasn't rock but it was a gig!)

Anyway, schools' music was very well funded in those days - as it should be, today - it is well-recognised that playing a musical instrument helps learning in other areas (especially maths and languages) as well as improving such things as posture, breath-control, fine-motor coordination, confidence, memory, and the ability to work as (or lead) a group or team. And beyond all that, it can widen horizons to not just all the many and varied music-related careers but to history, and art, and physics, and people, and places.

Of course, not all youngsters who start learning musical instruments stay with it. For many it's 'not their thing' and they prefer to devote their time to sports, or art, or acting, dance, computers, reading, nature, astronomy, being super-heroes, watching telly - or just hanging out. So come my revolution every kid would get that well-rounded an education through their well-funded and well-equipped schools, local colleges, and through groups and clubs in their communities. Perhaps kids could have a Personal Extra-curricular Activity Budget, and we could have an LA Sports Service, Arts Service, Science Service, etc., If this country is not prepared to invest in its kids, then just what is it prepared to invest in?