Music

Schools ‘expected’ to publish music development plan summaries

Website summary 'should reflect how a school delivers music education to pupils and what changes they are planning in future years'

Website summary 'should reflect how a school delivers music education to pupils and what changes they are planning in future years'

Schools will be “expected” to publish a summary of their “music development plans” on their websites from September, the government has said.

In their national plan for music education in 2022, ministers told all schools to develop such plans to “capture the curricular and co-curricular offer and set out how it will be staffed and funded”.

The plan went on to suggest that “publishing the school music development plan on the school website may also help families to understand how their children will benefit from school music”.

But the government has beefed up its guidance this week, informing leaders that “from academic year 2024 to 2025, schools will be expected to publish a summary of their music development plan on their website”.

The summary “should reflect how a school delivers music education to pupils and what changes they are planning in future years”.

The expectation is non-statutory, meaning schools have no legal duty to follow it.

‘Help parents understand’

The Department for Education said the summary was “to help pupils and parents or carers understand what your school offers, and who a school works with to support this, including their local music hub and other music education organisations”.

The department has “published a short template as part of the guidance to help schools produce the summary”.

It comes after Schools Week revealed almost a quarter of secondary schools are not meeting a new government expectation for key stage 3 pupils to be taught an hour of classroom music a week.

The expectation was introduced in September as part of the national plan for music, which promised to help “unleash the creativity of children” with a “renewed emphasis on opportunities for all”.

A similar expectation was also introduced for key stages 1 and 2.

But a Teacher Tapp survey of 1,256 senior leaders in state secondary schools this month found that 16 per cent were teaching for less than an hour a week, with 2 per cent not teaching it at all.

A further 5 per cent used a “carousel” system, which usually means teaching pupils for only part of the year.

Overall, two-thirds said they met the weekly commitment of one hour, with 7 per cent saying that they taught for more than an hour.

Latest education roles from

IT Technician

IT Technician

Harris Academy Morden

Teacher of Geography

Teacher of Geography

Harris Academy Orpington

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Exams Assistant

Exams Assistant

Richmond and Hillcroft Adult & Community College

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Solihull College and University Centre

Sponsored posts

Sponsored post

It’s Education’s Time to Shine: Celebrate your Education Community in 2025!

The deadline is approaching to nominate a colleague, team, whole school or college for the 2025 Pearson National Teaching...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Navigating NPQ Funding Cuts: An Apprenticeship Success Story

Last year’s NPQ funding cuts meant that half of England’s teachers faced costs of up to £4,000 to complete...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Embedding Formative Assessment: not just a box-ticking exercise but something long-term and meaningful for all

Our EFA programme has been proven to help schools achieve better GCSE results, as evidenced by the EEF. Find...

SWAdvertorial
Sponsored post

Building capacity in family support to tackle low school attendance 

Persistent and severe school absence impacts children, families, and communities—especially in disadvantaged areas. School-Home Support’s Attendance Support and Development Programme...

SWAdvertorial

More from this theme

Music

£6m music pilot launched for disadvantaged children

Cash injection expected to help charity 'supercharge' existing music programme

Jack Dyson
Music

Music hubs reform ‘most torrid time of our careers’, MPs told

Decision to slash hubs from 116 to 43 places some provision at 'enormous risk'

Freddie Whittaker
Music

‘New generation’ of larger music hubs revealed

The number of music hubs will be reduced from 116 to 43, with the organisations covering larger areas

Freddie Whittaker
Music

Quarter of schools missing one-hour music target

Expectation was introduced in September as part of the government’s national plan for music

Samantha Booth

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *