Teach Secondary 13.7

As a diligent student of music, Cathy Newman’s schooldays involved a fair amount of single-mindedness – along with some very early mornings... What I learnt at school I went a local primary called in Godalming, Surrey – just a very ordinary school that I walked to every day. I remember being reasonably happy there, but I was quite an early reader, and they insisted I learn the basics, rather than lettingme read whichever books I wanted, which was a bit frustrating. I later transferred to an all-girls private school, which I didn’t like. Girls together can be quite catty at that age, and having come fromamixed state school, it was a big culture shift. The families of the other girls there seemed very ‘stockbroker belt’, whereas my parents were both teachers, so I felt a bit like a fish out of water. Being the best I then got a scholarship to Charterhouse, where my dad was a teacher. Our family didn’t pay a penny, so I felt I was receiving this hugely privileged education I should be grateful for, but I wasn’t very happy there, either. I was quite a quite a nerdy kid, with big, heavy NHS specs. Music was my refuge. The one thing I loved about Charterhouse was the music department, which had an incredible chapel, an amazing choir and a brilliant orchestra. Those, along with the theatre, were the highlights of my time there. I was a total swot in lessons – really driven, determined to ace every lesson and very competitive. I’mmaking myself sound quite obnoxious, aren’t I? But I just wanted to do really well at school, and was focused on being the best I could be. I didn’t have many friends. Other girls see someone being a bit keen, and that’s pretty easy tomake fun of. Even now, I’d much rather domy own thing and gomy own way. I had to learn how to be a teamplayer. Individual and quirky My interest inmusic first developed when I four, after I contracted chicken pox andmy dad borrowed a spare violin fromamusic teacher to keep me entertained at home, and I ended up getting really into it. I soon became completely immersed, and started regularly attending the Pro Cordamusic course held at LeistonAbbey in Suffolk from when I was 7 until around 15. The other kids on the course often weren’t that good at fitting in at school either, and were typically quite individual and a bit quirky, so we all got on really well together. As a teenager, I then had violin lessons with Dona Lee Croft – this incredible Texan violinist who was the most phenomenal teacher. She had a way of changing everything I’d learned about the violin up to then and takingme back to basics, which helpedme come on in leaps and bounds. Around this time I’d be doing three and a half hours of violin practise every evening, and getting up at 5:30am every morning to domy homework before leaving for school. I didn’t needmuch sleep, (and still don’t need that much now). Threadbare provision I wanted to be a violinist until the age of 16, which was when I sawKate Adie on TV reporting from the 1991 Gulf War and thought, ‘ Wow, that’s a really interesting job – I want to be a war reporter. ’ After I set my sights on becoming a journalist, aside from occasional friends’ weddings I barely played the violin at all – though I did take it up again quite recently, after forming a string quartet with other people working in and around Parliament. I now have two kids myself, both of whom play the violin and do plenty of music. They attended a local London state school, but also joined the Junior Guildhall Saturday School, where the vast majority of their peers were privately educated. Seeing the music provision at local state schools in recent years, I’ve come to realise just how threadbare it is. If you go to a fee paying school, you get a pretty good musical experience that’s simply not accessible to the vast majority of kids. That’s what the Music Makers’ Charter is all about – a belief that there should be more investment into widening access to music for people of all backgrounds, and some recognition of the benefits doing that would bring. I feel passionately that more people should have the same opportunities to engage with music that I had. Cathy Newman is a journalist, broadcaster, presenter of Channel 4 News and a supporter of the Music Makers’ Charter campaign organised by the education charity Music for All; for more information, visit musicforall.org.uk/music-makers-charter 15 teachwire.net/secondary C L A S S O F T H E PA S T