Martin Fautley

Bridget Whyte has today announced that she will be stepping down from her role as Chief Executive Officer following nearly nine years of service to Music Mark.

Read more: www.musicmark.org.uk/news/bridget...

I like to try to listen to music when it's seasonally appropriate, which means this CD only has a fairly brief window! (However,
@prestomusic.bsky.social streaming means that's not a problem!)

It's arrived! Complete with brand new cover design and brilliant contributions from Anthony Anderson, Carolyn Cooke, Victoria Kinsella, John Finney, Chris Philpott, @proffautley.bsky.social, @gary-spruce.bsky.social, @kirstydevaney.bsky.social, @drannamariguddi.bsky.social, and others 🙌

Hooray, goodbye to the wretched EBacc. Gov press release today says: "...removal of the EBacc and reforms to Progress 8 – to encourage students to study a greater breadth of GCSE subjects including the arts..."Good-oh 👍

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Fingers crossed the EBacc is consigned to the waste bin...

Read the reaction from co-authors @proffautley.bsky.social and @allydaubney.bsky.social ⬇️

Since 2010, the EBacc has diminished music in schools. For over a decade, we have campaigned tirelessly for reform.

The government has promised to put music back at the heart of our schools. The Curriculum and Assessment Review is the chance to prove it.

Strange - and worrying - that these two messages appear side-by-side in my feed this morning:

Row over new Ofsted ‘high-quality’ research checks New inspections will judge teacher trainers down if use of 'discredited research' isn't tackled

I really, really don't like the sound (or smell!) of this: schoolsweek.co.uk/row-over-new...

Listening to Ed Watkins on latest Music Teachers Association
podcast talking about A-level music grading issues, I hope he manages to make waves about this, as for a while I've been fruitlessly asking about disparity in A* grades awarded between music & maths & getting nowhere! Reposting image:

Hmm - not so sure about the stellar, but anyway - I enjoyed your chapter Elizabeth, and the bit about language made me think again on that topic!

The ISM has long called for the reform or scrapping of the EBacc and Progress 8.

These measures have marginalised arts subjects in schools. Since 2010, we've seen a dramatic fall in the uptake of music - entries have dropped by 43% at A-level and 30% at GCSE.

Photo of Bridget Whyte, CEO of Music Mark, stood in front of some foliage. Bridget is a white woman with brown shoulder length hair and wears a black top and burgundy lanyard.

In the run up to our #MMConference25, Bridget's blog reflects on the past 9 Years of Music Mark Conferences! 🎤

Bridget shares the wide range of conferences we've had, from different locations across the country to going fully digital in 2020! 📽️

🔗Read the blog: www.musicmark.org.uk/news/bridget...

DfE data out today. Initial back-of-an-envelope analysis shows numbers of trainees achieving QTS in secondary music seems to be the lowest it's been for some years. Not sure what this means for the future of the profession though?

From 'The Times' obituary of Ozzy Osbourne: "...given that his only accomplishment at school had been to appear in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, he resolved to become a singer..." Wow! (Just thinking of the parts he could have played 🤔)

24 composing challenges for young people this summer. Unleash their creativity! resources.bcmg.org.uk/creating-mus...

Splendid - Jolly well done Elizabeth!

Good-oh! Thanks Lucy 👍

ISM Music Curriculum | Independent Society of Musicians Explore curriculum frameworks from the ISM trust, designed to support music education and provide valuable resources for students and teachers.

Guessing you've seen the resources Ally Daubney & I wrote for the ISM? www.ism.org/advice/ism-c...

Yup. Still a thing, Keith, I'm sad to say. Hand me the ramipril...

2/2 ...maths (say) 4hrs/week, and music 1hr/week, then in 6 weeks the kids will have had 24hrs maths vs 6 hrs music. So to be coherent, either maths should have an 'assessment lesson' every 6 days, or music should have one every 24 weeks. But I hear so often that this doesn't happen!

Been thinking again about where schools have a requirement for 'assessment lessons' in music, and how this fits with notions of coherence/consistency. If a school has requirements for an assessment lesson every six weeks: if said school has 1 hour lessons, teaches ... 1/2

In recognition of it being the centenary of the birth of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, am listening to his versions of BWV56, 4, and a personal favourite, BWV82. Ahh....

Bound to...!

This piece from @drlizstafford.bsky.social gets a hooray from me for dissing the "music is a universal language" nonsense! 👍

Music teachers sound the alarm on declining access and support - Music Teacher The survey 'Growing Musicians, Shaping Lives’, conducted by magazines Music Teacher and Gramophone, reveals stark warnings about declining student participation, underfunded programmes, and widespread...

This Music Teacher article makes for sobering reading "Nearly half of the teachers reported a decline in extracurricular music participation over the past five years. The story is the same for instrumental lessons, with 45% noting a drop". Article at www.musicteachermagazine.co.uk/content/news...

Lots of fascinating things in this piece from @drlizstafford.bsky.social as well as quite a lot of food for thought re the future of music education in England

Tonight seems to be a night for Fischer-Dieskau and BWV 82 - Ich habe genug

Oh, that again. Fair enough - you get cross - me, I'll just reach for my blood pressure pills!