Back in March, the UK went into lockdown and our partner schools closed their gates. We were suddenly faced with the challenges of online teaching. Despite this, as an ambitious and creative organisation, we jumped at the challenge. Since then, we have been providing music-making, motivation and fun for many of our students and their families.
Transforming our teaching
The Sutton Trust estimates that just 33% of primary age children had access to online learning during COVID-19 with children in private and independent schools twice as likely to be accessing such opportunities. In contrast, our core teaching programme transformed to incorporate either weekly or fortnightly one-to-one Zoom lessons, available for all of our students at home and accompanied by weekly Learning Plans and videos assembled by our teaching team. We were able to engage 90% of our KS2 students and 55% of our KS1 students in online lessons, providing an essential link to their continued education, and also a creative stimulating and expressive environment to support their well-being during a time of extreme challenge, despite challenging circumstances and technical barriers for many families. Parents told us that “Zoom lessons let my kid feel motivated,” and that it was “Great to see the teachers regularly via zoom in lockdown.”
Engaging with parents
We have seen a positive benefit on parental engagement. At the end of this term, 78% of parents who responded to our survey said they “know a lot about their child’s music education”, as opposed to just 28% before lockdown. One parent told us “[I’ve enjoyed] working together as a team. I, as a working mother but now furloughed, was able to sit in lessons and help more with my child’s practice.”
A new series of performances
We launched a brand new series of creativity and musical exploration called: Friday Live!
– free Facebook Live sessions streamed every week. Throughout the summer term, 27 livestreams took place from a host of musicians including artists such as Elena Urioste, Benjamin Baker and Randall Goosby, and also our teachers. The entire series had 12,920 views and explored music from a range of styles and cultures, accessible to people of all musical abilities. One parent commented that Friday Live had “created a diversity in my child’s musical learning.”
We finished the term and this series with The BIG Friday Live!, an end of year celebration concert livestreamed on Facebook. With 245 child performers, 41 student speakers and presenters, and teachers and staff from across all 6 of our partner schools, the show was a roaring success. As well as great fun, the concert has seen a boost in musical determination in our students. “He really loved seeing his friends, seeing himself playing with the group and his teachers,” said a parent. “He wants to learn more and promised to practice cello everyday.” This single livestream had 1,300 views and featured the staff and teaching team in a very special rendition of We are Family.
The impact on well-being
Everyone has had to learn new skills and engage in new ways during the lockdown. But arguably the greatest impact of our Home Learning provision has been on the well-being of our students and families many of whom live in communities that have been the hardest hit by this pandemic. We cannot overestimate the benefit to a young person of having regular contact with a teacher they trust who inspires and encourages them to achieve, work hard and believe in themselves. Our teaching team were doing this before lockdown, they were doing it during lockdown, and they will certainly continue to do this as the world opens up again. As one parent put it, “My daughter would go into the lesson grumpy and always come out happy & smiling”.