Following the release of the new National Plan for Music Education, many of you working in Music Education Hubs will have started to consider how your organisation will adapt its delivery to meet the requirements outlined. In the first in our series of blogs exploring how different types of education providers might approach the plan, we look at the new Hub functions and which Trinity College London qualifications may be of direct interest in achieving these.
The new revised functions set out a remit for supporting schools with their delivery plans, plus ensuring the long-term provision of music education and enjoyment for all. Here are some ideas for how Trinity can support you in delivering these functions:
Partnership
With the change in the Hubs' remit, there is an expectation for the range of organisations you work with to be broadened. Identifying what additional expertise your Hub would benefit from is one thing, but knowing where to find it might be something of a new challenge.
Trinity's unique position as an awarding body specialising in the communicative arts, and not solely in music, means that we work with a varied range of organisations who may be able to support or enhance your provision. For instance, within our teacher CPD offer, our Certificate for Music Educators (CME) qualification is delivered by validated course providers that include private training providers, Early Years specialists and instrumental bodies, as well as Music Education Hubs and services; you can find more information about these on our Public and Specialist course providers maps.
The breadth of organisations running Arts Award is even wider and ranges from schools, youth organisations and community projects to professional ensembles and opera companies. Our Trinity Champion Centres are organisations, recognised for their successful delivery, who want to share their knowledge, experience and enthusiasm for Trinity Music, Drama or Arts Award qualifications. And you can also find details of companies offering free discounted services to young people taking Arts Award on our Arts Award Supporters map.
Schools
In supporting each school and/or multi-academy trust with writing their own music development plan, the guidance provided by Hubs is going to need to be individual to each particular setting, taking into account their size, demographic, musical culture, aspirations and resources. Having a range of different options for how learners can be given the opportunity to evidence their learning and progression up your sleeve will be invaluable for any Hub!
In the second of our National Plan for Music Education blogs, we will be focusing more specifically on how our range of qualifications can support musical learning in schools. However, in the meantime, you may want to familiarise yourself with the following Trinity qualifications and how they might enhance the learning in the schools you are supporting:
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Progression and musical development
The National Plan for Music Education's acknowledgement of the role informal music education providers, in their various guises, play in an individual's learning is significant. It opens up so many possibilities, both for the people taking part, but also those organisations whose activities might not have previously qualified for support from their local Music Education Hub under their previous remit. We will explore these possibilities more fully in the third in this series of blogs focusing on how Trinity qualifications can be used in out of schools settings but, for now, you may be interested to look at:
Inclusion
Access and inclusion are threads which we aim to embed throughout all of our qualifications. In this blog, we have already highlighted our Awards & Certificates in Musical Development and Arts Award qualifications, which are specifically designed to be fully inclusive. You can also read our Supporting students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities through their graded Music exams blog which outlines the adjustments that can be made to graded exam delivery to support learners with SEND.
In addition to this, it is also possible for eligible students to access Trinity publications via the RNIB Bookshare, and our Music & Drama and Arts Award Access Funds provide small grants to learners facing barriers to the arts.
Sustainability
Ensuring your Hub is sustainable, in terms of nurturing and maintaining a well-trained workforce, being financially secure, transparent and environmentally friendly is no small task.
In supporting your workforce, you may want to consider our Certificate for Music Educators (CME) qualification. Delivered by Trinity validated course providers, the programme establishes the necessary foundations in music pedagogy, lesson planning and delivery, reflective practice, behaviour management, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, and safeguarding from which practitioners can build upon. Every single one of the CME courses available is slightly different, whether it's because it is delivered completely online or through blended learning, runs over a shorter or longer period of time, or specialises in a particular strand of music education. If you'd prefer to run your training in-house, why not consider becoming a validated Trinity CME course provider? You can find out more by contacting cme@trinitycollege.com.
If you, or any of your schools or partners, are considering extending your Arts Award delivery, then you may also need to think about what training your team might need: will you need more advisers or will those you have need training at different levels? Remember, we offer a 20% discount for groups booked onto the same scheduled Arts Award training course, and we offer made-to-measure options too.
Sustainability is also about making sure that the music students in your area, whatever their age, want to keep learning with you and one way to do this is to create as holistic an offer to them as you can. As the local area Hub, you will already be the one-stop shop for music lessons, instruments and ensemble activities but, by adding Trinity exam centre to your offer too, you will be ensuring there is somewhere local for your student to take their exams, as well as being able to manage the logistics, such as making sure everyone is enrolled, timetabling and generally making each candidate's exam experience is as positive as possible. You can find more information about becoming a Trinity exam centre on our website.
There is more information about the services we offer to Hubs on the dedicated page on our website and, as always, you can contact us at ukandireland@trinitycollege.com if you have any questions.
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