Technology & Innovation - Issue 11

All the right notes James Tuck, head of music at Mayflower High School, Billericay, shares his experiences of encouraging a hands-on approach to the subject – and what it takes to break through the ‘ I can’t sing ’ barrier... B efore joining the staff of Mayflower High School back in 2013, I remember talking to the kids during my initial visit about their music lessons. I asked what they did, and they told me they ‘ Played on the keyboards ’. I knew that the school had a few other instruments, so I asked if they ever got to play any of those – ‘ Not really. ’ That’s when I knew that if I was offered the job, I’d be able to make a difference. After being appointed, the SLT trusted me to do what I wanted to do over that initial year, and were prepared to back me when it came to the subject curriculum and the department’s finances. That was a big motivation for me, and a key reason for me staying at the school for as long as I have. Lessons in humanity Mayflower High School has around 1,600 students on roll, and is in a fairly affluent area. One challenge with that, though, has been overcoming what some parents see as the place of music within the wider curriculum, particularly fromKS4 onwards. Many parents would work in the City and often askme, ‘ What’s the point of learning music? How’s that going to get thema job? ’ My perspective is that the study of music has amuch bigger impact on pupils’ lives than that – so I’d often ask them, ‘ Do you want your children to be happy? ’ I then go on to explain how the reason for studyingmusic is that by doing so, we get to learn what it is to be human. When it’s your birthday, for example, others will celebrate the occasion by singing you that song.When people get married, there’ll usually be music at the ceremony. When Olympic athletes win a gold medal, their national anthemwill typically be played during the presentation ceremony. Music is something that exists completely within us. Small children will often sing before they can talk. Teaching musicians The most vital stage in a young person’s musical development is KS3. In those three years, maybe for the first time in their lives, they’ll have got to spend time with a professional music specialist. That’s why, when they walk through the door, one of the first things I’ll always say to Y7s that we don’t see them as students; we always refer to them as musicians . The areas we focus on at KS3 are singing, ‘band skills’ (i.e. learning how to play an instrument as part of a larger group), and the technology of making music, with an emphasis on live performance. We concentrate mainly on those three areas, rather than coveringmultiple smaller topics, as I feel that’s the best way of appreciably developing students’ strengths inmusic classroom life “THE REASON FOR STUDYINGMUSIC IS THATBYDOING SO,WE GETTO LEARNWHAT IT ISTOBE HUMAN” – JAMES TUCK, HEAD OF MUSIC 62 teachwire.net