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Sequencing Co-Curricular Music
Designing an implementing a successful co-curricular programme for your school is an ongoing process. It very much depends on context, there is no single approach that will work for all. I am a firm believer in this. I have worked in four very different music departments and what has worked…
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A Day in My Music Classroom (2)
Morning Rehearsal: Gx Choir After morning registration my day starts with Gx Choir. This is our open to all year 7 and 8 choir, previously known as Girls’ Choir. After some feedback from our students in 2021 that some in our community felt uncomfortable with the binary gender naming of…
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A Day in My Music Classroom (1)
Morning registration All the days start with coffee (that is a given) but officially my day starts with a visit to Bristol Cathedral. Each morning at 7.55am I head over and register the choristers, checking in on the day-to-day wellbeing and attendance of these students is a pleasure. They are…
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My Music Classroom: A Day in the Life
This year I am going to aim to publish here (ad hoc!) some posts that describe a day at work in my secondary music classroom. I often feel that the role of a classroom music teacher can be rather misunderstood as well as rather lonely for those in single person…
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What should we be assessing in the music classroom?
Assessment in the music classroom. Anyone got it figured out yet? No, me neither. What I have come to realise is that one of the biggest issues we face is that the process of growing (and tracking) musicianship is not linear. Something that has frustrated us (and our data managers)…
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Reflections on a Deep Dive
In November 2022 the music department at BCCS underwent a deep dive as part of a section 5 OFSTED inspection. Below is my reflection on the experience in my role as subject lead for music. Outside of lesson planning and annotating seating plans, my preparation included ensuring my A4 curriculum…
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Are we the gatekeepers?
In a recent curriculum conversation with a colleague, I was asked about the role of our curriculum—and our roles as music teachers—in being the gatekeepers of musical knowledge and history. Two principal questions were posed:What music do I choose to introduce to our students through our curriculum?How do I ensure…
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Thoughts on music curriculum design
Curriculum design is something I have always thoroughly enjoyed, and in twenty years of teaching in four different departments, I have never tired of re-writing and tinkering with the department curriculum. In my mind, it is the core of a successful department too. Get this right, and the rest follows…
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How important is the product?
This year, since returning to a classroom of live music-making post-Covid, one thing that has struck me is how many Key Stage 3 students have become very nervous about performing in front of their peers. Like many in my role, I have always had my fair share of students refusing…
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CanDoMusic
I wrote the following post in September last year and wanted to pop the post here too. I plan to go deeper on some of the points covered over the next few months. What does rebuilding music at BCCS look like after the last 18 months? @MrsGleedMusic@BCCSMusic Music during the…
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My Music Classroom 