Music
“Music is the divine way to tell beautiful, poetic things to the heart.”
Pablo Casals
Leeds, Bradford, Hull and East Yorkshire Code
Course Information
All secondary trainees receive 2 hours of subject training per week, led by a highly experienced subject leader, who has a strong track-record of outstanding results in schools in the GORSE Academies Trust. Music is the target language of learning in our Subject Knowledge sessions, and we hold this principle at the heart of everything we do. Our sessions are practical, as is the core nature of our subject. Our key aim is to inspire the next
generation of music educators by reminding them of how it feels to be a pupil in an engaging and stimulating musical environment. We spend our year together building musical skills, widening and deepening our knowledge of all areas of our expansive subject, and generally immersing ourselves in the joy of music-making.
You will spend one afternoon a week together immersed in music-based training. These sessions are led by the Music Subject Lead, who has spent almost two decades working in music education, across seven different schools, in both secondary and primary phases. As well as using key pieces of evidence-based research to underpin the content of our sessions, we also go out into partner schools as a subject cohort; this allows us to put our theoretical knowledge into practice with students.
Our trainees come from a wonderfully diverse range of musical backgrounds and experiences, and we use this to our advantage by sharing and learning from each other throughout the course. We look at every aspect of the school-based musical experience including performing, composing and appraising, as well as subject-led approaches to central educational issues, such as behaviour for learning through musical engagement. Whether we are rapping the register or learning traditional West African drumming and dance, a willingness to get involved will ensure you make the most of your year with us. You will end the course musically nourished for your future as an educator and leader in the endlessly fulfilling world of music education.
Meet the Music Subject Lead
Katie Taylor
Music is a vital part of both the primary and secondary curriculum. Engagement with music can support brain development, has links to language, motor and social skills, and supports wellbeing. Music is also an intellectual and artistic form that has value in its own right; we should not underestimate the importance of teaching music for music’s sake. A strong culture of music making in school can spill over into the local community and have a ripple effect that is even wider. Access to a quality music education cannot be the privilege of a selected few, or be seen as an optional add-on to pupils’ school experience. The recent announcement of the National Plan for Music, which sets out a vision for music education to 2030, solidifies its position in schools and has put music on the agenda for school leaders.
A broad and diverse music curriculum is key; tapping into students’ existing schema enables us to teach new musical concepts through familiar musical genres, drawing on students’ own culture, as well as introducing them to new ones. Equally crucial is ensuring that substantive and disciplinary knowledge in music is explicitly taught; we must not shy away from the teaching of music theory. We refresh and build upon this fundamental knowledge in order to facilitate the teaching of music at key stage 4 and 5, including GCSE and A level music.
Development of a breadth of musical skills is also vital in the music curriculum; performing, composing and appraising are skills that are assessed at all key stages. Knowledge of the frameworks that underpin the approaches taken in our subject area is an important part of our work; Swanwick and Tillman’s (1986) spiral model of musical development, in relation to composition, for example. Fostering a curiosity to keep abreast of the most up to date developments within music, including within linked disciplines such as music technology and music psychology, will ensure that teachers continue to learn and progress as a music educator throughout their career.
