Feeling fed up... Why bother learning an instrument in ptimary school to drop it in year 7?

[stillenacht]

Exactly that. Feeling very impotent as a secondary music teacher, going through my registers "Yes Miss I can play the violin/trombone/viola/flute/clarinet. I played it at Primary school but gave up before my 11plus/at the end of year 5/4/3".

Every bloody year more and more kids tell me this. Why cant kids commit to learning for the long term?Argh!!!!

[morethanpotatoprints]

That should read £25 per term, so it is even more reasonably priced.
I think the biggest barrier to be honest is the parents and at times the authority. There seems to be no continuation from primary to secondary.
If the music service were to send follow up reports to secondary, or encourage dc to play in ensembles, the move to secondary would be just as smooth as for other subjects the dc do. The dc would just turn up to ensemble at the beginning of term as they did in primary.

[Jux]

Which authority, potatoprints? I think I need to move!

[morethanpotatoprints]

Jux, will pm but only as it may identify my dd.

[Sokmonsta]

For me, or rather my parents, the barrier to me continuing my piano/violin/recorder lessons at secondary school was cost. They couldn't afford to continue lessons in just one instrument. Primary lessons were free. Secondary lessons were £30 an hour every week. The teacher kindly agreed to me doing just half an hour but long term to get a good grounding it just wasn't feasible to continue.

[78bunion]

Also those short of money do use the internet. I taught the children theory and taught them all the grades just about all of them up to 5. They learned the piano from parents at home too (no cost). I taught myself the violin to grade 8 and singing to grade 8 without a single lesson (although my piano and theory lessons - both grade 8s too) helped mean that was possible, although obviously if you can afford lessons that will for most children be the best option. I also did music GCSE alone as a teenager teaching myself - library books etc.

[Clayhanger]

Putting the cost issue aside (though obviously it's a major barrier!) I wonder if there's another way of approaching it. You meet so many adults who regret having given up an instrument that I almost wonder whether there's scope for targeting the parents to learn along with the children. Learners' orchestras shouldn't be restricted by age.
My DDs were in a Saturday music centre for years which allowed parents to join the main orchestra - there was already a parents' choir.

I sympathise with stillenacht though. DDs' school (comp) has a fantastically dynamic music department. There's a Y7 concert in the first term and all music lessons are geared to that - a mass choir. But the orchestra isn't too strong- the good players don't want to join because it's too scratchy. All school music teachers have my admiration for their patience!

[anotherboringnickname]

OP, it's interesting you mention the 11plus, though. I know kids who were tutored several hours a week. No more time for music! Isn't it a symptom of the academics taking over, parents anxious of getting into the good schools, getting the A* for UNI, etc?
It does get more difficult and demanding with time!
My DS is into music, he is a music scholar with three instrumental lessons a week plus choir, ensembles, etc. On top of all that time, there is the individual practice time which he has to do everyday after finishing homework, while many of his friends, after homework, can just chill out playing games or watching TV. This requires an iron will.

[goonIcantakeit]

Hi Stillenacht,

I work part-time in a primary and we are working on transition right now. I feel the same as you from the other side of the fence: "All that work, all that input.... then they give up at secondary!"

You already said you are doing transition links so I won't try to teach-my-grandmother-to-suck-eggs.

Another thought: how about, at the beginning of year 7, you get that list of "I used to play x but gave it up for 11+ tutoring" kids and say to them "right, if you still have it, do not sell it, do not return a hire instrument, because you will be using it in each and every KS3 music lesson...."

This, of course, would mean that your classroom music syllabus would then need to incorporate use of a range of instruments in every lesson - but that, as you know, can be done, especially with composition work being such a desired focus these days.

let me know what you think! HTH.

[SE13Mummy]

Here in SE13 I'd say one of the major barriers is the lack of support by school leadership for music as a curriculum subject.

My own experience as a primary school teacher is that there is so much pressure on children making progress in Literacy and numeracy that that lots of class teachers panic when children disappear out of parts of lessons for 30 minutes once or twice a week. Personally, it's not something that bothers me as I spend at least 5 hours a week teaching Literacy and numeracy - if a child doesn't 'get' what we're doing in 4.5 hours, I doubt that the 30 minutes that they are in a recorder/brass/woodwind lesson will be the dealbreaker.

I am completely biased as I'm someone who played musical instruments all the way through primary and secondary school, loved singing in choirs, playing in the youth orchestra etc. and I would like every child I teach to have the opportunity to do the same. Sadly, until primary schools are no longer judged by their KS2 test results (by Ofsted, the press and by parents), I expect that most Headteachers will feel they are justified in claiming that parents want high KS2 results and so music has to be an extra that is squeezed in here and there. It's not the case in all schools - I know of a couple of primaries near here who have made music a priority. At those schools every single child will learn at least one instrument throughout their time at primary school.

Another possible barrier is the apparent lack of opportunity to perform through the school and the age limits put on other opportunities. For example, DD1 took up the trumpet aged 7.5 (because she had been desperate to for ages, had picked up the recorder/reading music quickly, had enough adult teeth and there were spaces in the brass teacher's timetable) having a 30 minute group lesson, at lunchtimes, once a week. In Y3 she was put in a group with 2 children, one from Y5, one from Y6 and took grade 2 after a year of playing (she passed with distinction). The other two were able to go to a very local schools event for brass and woodwind players along with all other Y5+ pupils who were having school music lessons. DD1 wasn't allowed to go because she was in Y3. Unbeknown to me, her brass teacher and the recorder teacher had put her name forward to attend the event. Being in Y3 was the only stumbling block. So, a highly motivated, keen and musical pupil missed out because she's not in the correct year group. Other children from DD1's school returned from the event saying, "you should have been there - X can only play 3 notes and she came, you'd have loved it". She won't be in the correct year group to participate in any of the Lewisham/Southwark/Lambeth music events for another year from now. I'm not sure that's a great way to enthuse young musicians! Luckily for DD1, she does get to play at church once a month and through the Music Service Saturday morning groups so it's not as though being barred from that event (which was for the launch of a new group) has prevented her from playing. Chances are, there will be children in Y4 for whom that would have been their only easy opportunity to engage with music socially.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

I was made to take piano lessons from about age 6 to about age 13 in the 70s, got to grade 5 level but never took the exam. I did my best but clearly wasn't very talented. I finally managed to persuade my parents to let me stop it at that point and I have never wanted to go back and do it again, never regretted stopping for a single minute, it was just a relentless slog. I don't feel I've missed out in the slightest, it just isn't where my interests lie. However while I don't think anyone should have to carry on for years if they hate it, I do think that everyone should have the opportunity to learn and see if they want to pursue it.

As for my own DCs, DS (9) did keyboard in year 3 and it was a total slog for him (he has ASD and poor coordination). I will admit my rusty skills were useful in helping him. DS (7) wants to learn instruments but hasn't been offered anything through school and already does ballet, tap, Brownies, drama, rugby and swimming outside school and it's hard to see how we could fit it in TBH. Maybe the home learning via the internet will be the way to go for us, my rusty skills might come in handy. Our school does not appear to prioritise music very much unfortunately.

[arfishy]

At DDs school everybody starts an instrument at 5 - mainly violins & cellos. Then in year 3 the brass/woodwind program kicks in and everybody gets an instrument and a free lesson on whichever instrument they have chosen. DD started violin at 5 and chose clarinet in year 3, which has now evolved into Saxophone. She has violin lessons out of school and percussion & saxophone in school, one fixed and one rotating slot.

She is 10 and doing grade 4 for violin and saxophone so may just reach the mythical grade 5s by 11! This isn't considered as particularly spectacular by the school - they have to be grade 7 in year 6 for a music scholarship

We are finding that sport is frequently clashing with music now as another poster mentioned. Next year sailing clashes with her violin ensemble rehearsal on Tuesday and another orchestral commitment on Saturday. We had to do all of the sport enrolments before we got the results of the ensemble auditions so now we're double booked.