Category: News

Spring Concert – Monday 29th March, 7pm

Glasgow CREATE’s Instrumental Music Service is delighted to invite you to join us for our online Spring Concert which will take place next Monday, 29thMarch. The concert will be streamed from the CREATE YouTube channel. Please help spread the word by sharing and retweeting. Hit subscribe on our YouTube channel to be notified when the concert goes live. http://YouTube.com/GlasgowCreate

The concert includes performances from the Glasgow Schools’ Big Band, String Orchestras, Brass Ensemble, Woodwind Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Clarinet Ensemble as well as featured soloists.

We look forward to joining you for a great night of music showcasing the breadth of talent from our young people across the City.

What Scotland Learned

What Scotland Learned is a collection of inspiring stories about how practitioners across Scotland have responded during the COVID-19 crisis. It is structured around the five themes of How Good is OUR School? and includes contributions from children and young people, adults, families and communities.

What we did: 

Glasgow CREATE adapted to establish online platforms to communicate effectively with parents and families and continue to engage children and young people in expressive arts and creative learning. The new platforms include a CREATE website, YouTube and Facebook, and Blogs for the Instrumental Music and Youth Music Initiative Services. As well as offering access to lesson materials and demonstration videos, these platforms were used to run campaigns to inspire and motivate learners to engage in activities which promote positivity and creativity during a very difficult period.

The ‘30 Days of Creativity’ campaign provided daily creative challenges for children to complete using digital tools. The ‘Love from Glasgow’ composing competition invited children and young people to write a piece of music as a message of positivity to family, friends, or the community. Continuing to promote a culture of positivity, secondary pupils were asked to create a YouTube style video sharing what they love about drama and advice for upcoming S1 pupils. With the absence of end of year concerts, our digital platforms hosted a ‘Glasgow Schools Young Musician Celebration’ which gave children and young people an opportunity to showcase their talents and skills developed over the past year.

Who we involved:

Glasgow Education Services’ ‘CREATE’ (creativity and expressive arts transforming education), which includes the Instrumental Music Service and Youth Music Initiative programme. Teachers, Music Instructors, children and young people from across Glasgow Primary and Secondary schools. Partnerships with Apple, Glasgow’s Digital Learning programme, Haydock Music, Glasgow Times and the Benedetti Foundation.

The difference it made: 

Children and young people were able to access high quality and engaging learning experiences at home via the online platforms. Families without internet accessed home learning ideas for Music, Drama and creativity via Glasgow Times articles and packs sent to Hub schools. Teachers were able to access materials to support expressive arts and creative learning, which were shared via school digital learning platforms and used to engage children in Hub schools.

The use of digital tools has enabled children and young people to continue to receive instrumental tuition and access individualised lesson materials and regular feedback from instructors. With over 60 participants, virtual concerts allowed young people to celebrate their successes.

The daily videos for 30 Days of Creativity, shared via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, received high levels of engagement with 27.8K views and 244 subscribers on YouTube; on Twitter, we had 572.3K impressions, 3.9K link clicks and 1.2K retweets, with creative responses to the challenges shared by children and teachers across the city. The ‘Love from Glasgow’ competition engaged primary and secondary pupils from across the city in song writing and composition with the winning entries receiving prize vouchers from Haydock Music in celebration of their creativity.

What we will do differently in the future:

Over the past 6 months, there has been a complete re-think about how music and instrumental lessons are delivered. Demonstrating commitment and creativity, all 80 instructors adapted their practice and enhanced their skills using digital technology to deliver lessons via Teams during lockdown and continue to provide individualised support for young people through blended learning. The use of digital tools to facilitate team meetings will have an impact long term, having increased communication and collaboration between members of a large peripatetic team and enabled further opportunities for sharing practice.

Due to the success of the 30 Days of Creativity project and partnership with Apple, this approach will be implemented in the future to continue to promote creativity and digital innovation across the curriculum.

CREATE is committed to developing a comprehensive online resource which will have an impact in the short and long term on the support available for teachers to deliver the expressive arts curriculum. A progression framework, resources, videos and live stream lessons will widen the reach of the service, providing regular high-quality learning experiences. This equitable approach will ensure all children and young people access a progressive expressive arts programme, which is sustainable moving forwards.

 

YMI Remote Learning

Our YMI tutors have been busy preparing video lessons to support remote learning and week 1 is now available on the YMI website here. The videos can be streamed from YouTube on personal devices and are available on Office 365 Video on any Connected Learning iPad logged in via glow. This first block of lessons are based on the music of Scotland. Please check back each Wednesday for the next lesson in the series.

30 More Days of Creativity

Glasgow’s ’30 More Days of Creativity’ in partnership with Apple launches today and runs until December 17th. The challenges will go live on our YouTube channel here at 9.15am Monday-Friday and Friday’s video will include two challenges for children and young people to try at home over the weekend. 

Following on from ’30 Days of Creativity’ which launched in May, these new 30 creative activities are designed with P7 pupils in mind, though very much suitable for children aged 8-12+.

 

CREATE Christmas Concerts

This year we will be presenting a virtual Christmas Concert series.

Our Instrumental Music Service concert will be streamed on Monday 14th December and our Primary Schools concert on Tuesday 15th December.

Our YMI Tutors have prepared Christmas musical activities from P1-P7 which can be found here.

For detailed information and to take part in the Instrumental Service concert please contact the relevant instructor below. All material is being collated very soon, so don’t delay in getting your videos to us as soon as possible.
 
Main Contact for all groups:
07387231777
 
String Orchestra 
Fred Parry
 
String Training Orchestra
Peter Kemp
 
Baby Strings
 
Guitar Ensemble
Stewart Kelly
 
Wind
Nicola Leslie
 
Brass
Andy Connell Smith
Chris Mansfield
 
Pipes & Drums
David Shedden
 
Harp
Christine Edwards
 
Big Band
 
Percussion
Kenny Carlyle
 
Voice
Russell Truman
 
Piano & Keyboard
 
 

Music Service Risk Assessment (Updated November 2020)

Glasgow CREATE Music Service

Risk Assessment and Safeguarding Supplementary Advice to all GCC Music Staff

Update November 2020

The following document sets out considerations for safe delivery of Music Lessons from November 2020 but must be tailored and included within each establishment’s individual Risk Assessment taking into account individual circumstances within schools and departments. The advice is based on current government guidelines and is subject to change and revision.

The Scottish Government Sub Group on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Education and Children’s Issues updated their advisory note on PE, Music and Drama in Schools on 23rd September. The advice is current on this date.  The advice is reviewed periodically and may change as evidence is published and more about the virus is understood.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advisory-sub-group-on-education-and-childrens-issues-advice-on-physical-education-music-and-drama-in-schools/

This Supplementary Advice to Music Staff has taken the above guidance into consideration.

In terms of Instrumental Music Service (IMS), each Instrumental Music Instructor (IMI) will be allocated a base school. Base schools have been allocated centrally and will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. All Faculty Heads and Principal Teachers have been informed of this allocation.

Where adequate risk assessment is in place tutors will visit up to five schools in one week where there must be a suitably ventilated room available. 

When Government Guidance changes and following a further assessment of risks, IMI may increase their rota of schools. At present, for most instrument families (Strings, Guitar, Percussion, Piano and Keyboard) IMI will deliver face to face lessons where spaces are appropriate with the careful consideration of physical distancing and suitable ventilation.  Classroom doors should be open at all times.

Extract from GCC Generic Risk Assessment;

Ventilation

Good ventilation should be encouraged in all areas were possible.

In order to increase ventilation and the supply of fresh air windows and doors (except fire/security doors) can be opened. Fans can be used to assist in circulating stagnant air to improve circulation as the risk of transmission is extremely low.

It is important to note that when opening windows to increase ventilation that window restrictors should remain in place and notdisengaged.

It must be noted that at present under no circumstances should the use of Voice, Pipes, Woodwind and Brass take place in school buildings until Government Guidance is updated.

However, the most recent Education Scotland update for Music published on 11th November 2020 states;

https://education.gov.scot/media/4a3d2zrb/music-guidelines-11-11-20.pdf

Although singing, brass and woodwind and group lessons cannot take place with everyone physically in the same room together, technology can facilitate collective participation. For example, singing, music lessons, and choir practice, can take place virtually; young people might record themselves performing and provide the recordings to their teacher. For those young people who have chosen to undertake an SQA qualification in music, it may be necessary to record a virtual portfolio. The risk for staff, children and young people is also reduced if lessons take place outdoors or under a gazebo (with opened sides or equivalent). Appropriate physical distancing should be in place where possible.

Therefore, if risk assessment has taken place and consideration given to the above risk matrix then singing, woodwind and brass lessons may take place outdoors.

Please note that if using a gazebo or awning to facilitate lessons outdoors, this must be risk assessed in advance and there must always be adequate ventilation and physical distancing.  For this purpose, this applies to both primary and secondary children and young people.

With both physical distancing and risk assessment in place, it may be possible for children to safely sing outside. However, there should not be organized large group singing or performances.

However, for Early Years, although singing indoors is not permitted as an organised, large group activity singing naturally in the course of activities and play should not be discouraged.  Singing can also be used to comfort young children where necessary.

However, it remains imperative that pupils continue to receive high quality tuition, therefore until Government Guidance is updated, all Woodwind, Brass, Pipes and Voice lessons will delivered via Showbie Pro or Microsoft Teams in the event of Showbie Pro being unavailable.

Until clear guidance is given by Scottish Government, it is likely that this will require young people to be at home for live video lessons and this must be negotiated with individual schools and parents.

However, tutors may meet with young people to give lessons without blowing the instrument which may include using pre-recorded video to allow feedback to be given.  Video may be sent to tutors to allow feedback to be given between lessons where appropriate, IT guidance must be followed for both prerecorded video and audio clips.

In addition, where there is insufficient space in a school, IMI will also have the capacity to deliver digital instrumental music lessons using Showbie Pro (or Microsoft Teams in the event of Showbie Pro being unavailable) which may be carried out from an alternative school or home.  Pamela Black is the Lead on Glasgow IMS Service Virtual Classroom and will be responsible for Quality Assurance.

https://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/Home/Advice/covid-19/music-teaching/safeguarding-when-teaching-online

Group lessons will only be considered where suitable space is available and current guidance on physical distancing must be adhered to.  (See EIS Additional Guidance on Managing Risks of Covid 19 for Instrumental Music Teachers & https://www.eis.org.uk/Coronavirus/RiskAssessGuide & Guidance on Physical Distancing in Educational and Childcare Settings).

However, at present this should not include Brass, Woodwind, Singing or Pipes.

IMI and Faculty Heads / Principal Teachers should liaise closely regarding timetabling and making changes in line with Government Guidance when appropriate. Agreed protocols for reporting lesson attendances should also be agreed between IMI and Faculty Heads and Principal Teachers.

Youth Music Initiative (YMI) Staff will concentrate on supporting Primary Schools with Early Literacy Skills and Phonological Awareness with a focus on Primary One and Two to be extended if time allows. At present singing is not permitted as per Scottish Government Guidance therefore there should be a focus on using rhythm, rhyme, clapping and body percussion.  Quiet humming is permitted.

Cleaning

Careful consideration should be given to the cleaning regime for specialist equipment (e.g. in practical subjects or for children with additional support needs), sensory rooms, practical subjects with specialist equipment and dining halls, etc. to ensure safe use.

https://www.ism.org/advice/instrument-hygiene-preventing-the-spread-of-covid-19-when-performing-or-teaching

Classrooms and Music Teaching Spaces should be cleaned in accordance with current guidelines and robust whole school cleaning regimes as per individual school Risk Assessments. Instruments should not be shared, with the exception of Keyboard, Piano, Percussion and Double Bass where a robust system of cleaning between use should take place in accordance with current guidelines and individual school Risk Assessments.

These instruments should be cleaned as per the guidelines for cleaning surfaces and materials are provided in schools for this purpose.  This includes Music technology equipment such as microphones, stands, headphones and keyboards.

There is enhanced cleaning and day cleaning in all schools and this should be negotiated at school level.

Where appropriate, a day cleaner or pupils can clean instruments after use for example wiping down keyboards with an antibacterial wipe.  Keyboards should not be sprayed directly with antibacterial spray as this is a Health and Safety risk and may damage instruments.

For Senior Phase Pupils, where possible children should have their own instrument and will be responsible for their own cleaning which in the main should be done at home.

Health

General Health and Safety Rules and regulations should be followed as per individual establishment Risk Assessments.

Children and young people will be required to wash or sanitise their hands before and after each lesson. Please note, sanitiser should not be a replacement for handwashing.  Where possible, children should wash their hands in the first instance.

Each child or young person should have personal copies of music and textbooks and where possible this should be in digital form on the iPad.

All staff should be made aware of each schools’ policy and protocols for the display of COVID 19 symptoms as well as any contingency arrangements for dealing with self-isolation and any test and protect protocols that are in place. (NHS Inform website)

Care and Maintenance of Instruments

Children and young people should be regularly reminded about the importance of cleaning their individual instrument and told how to do this carefully in line with each individual school’s Risk Assessment.  Close attention and advice should be given particularly to the cleaning of mouthpieces, reeds, chanters and pipes.

For Woodwind, Pipes and Brass Instruments, provision should be made to ensure that they are properly cleaned and dried by children and young people at the end of each lesson. Children and young people should not be allowed to blow or tip water from instruments in the teaching room. Newspaper or paper towels (or anti-bacterial paper) should be provided for the venting of water keys and pupils should remove and dispose of their own at the end of the lesson.

Bands, Orchestras, Ensembles and Choirs

It is unlikely that large scale group music activities will be possible for the foreseeable future. This will be reviewed by CREATE Music in March 2021 and advice will be updated accordingly. This will be based on National Guidance to ensure the Health and Safety of all involved.

Where Health and Safety Guidance allows, Music Staff may encourage children and young people to explore smaller group performances with strict social distancing considering the different instrument groups and use online platforms to make music together may also be a possibility.  However, for the moment this should not include Voice, Brass, Pipes or Woodwind Instruments.

Risk Assessment and Safeguarding

Supplementary Advice for all GCC Music Staff/Young People/Parents/Guardians

CREATE Music Service Safeguarding Policy

All Music Teachers and Tutors are required to meet the Professional Standards and Expectations outlined in the GTCS Code of Conduct, Information Security Policy and Glasgow City Council Council’s Acceptable Use Policy.

All issues relating to online Child Protection (CP) should be dealt with in the same way as for face to face teaching, i.e. all CP issues must in the first instance be referred to the base school Child Protection Officer.

The child’s local authority Child Protection Policy will be the reference point for all matters relating to CP.

All IMI and YMI are required to complete annual Child Protection and Information Security Training as well as hold a current PVG with Glasgow City Council.

In addition, Glasgow City Council has advice on Microsoft Teams which should also be taken into account where using Showbie Pro (or Microsoft Teams in the event of Showbie Pro being unavailable).  There are links within this document to the policies listed above.

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=49707&p=0

Glasgow City Council Education has thorough procedures in place to ensure the safety of all pupils and staff as follows;

  1. Internet filtering is in place on all school managed devices for example PC’s and iPads. The same policies apply at home and in school.
  2. Different internet filtering levels are in place for Primary and Secondary year levels.
  3. Apps are checked for GDPR compliance.
  4. Acceptable use policy is in place for students and staff;

http://www.goglasgow.org.uk/Pages/Show/2253

http://www.goglasgow.org.uk/content/UserGenerated/file/ICT%20Policies/PupilAcceptableUsePolicygeneric.doc

  1. Home school agreement for ipads is in place and has to be signed by parents.
  2. Schools will provide guidance and run sessions with students on staying safe on the internet e.g. Cyber Security.

It is essential that before commencing Video Lessons IMS and Young People are clear on the expectations to ensure safety for all involved.

Firstly, it is imperative that prior to starting Video Lessons on Showbie Pro (or Microsoft Teams in the event of Showbie Pro being unavailable), IMS should ensure that their pupils have completed the Acceptable Use Policy for use of the iPad ensuing that they have been countersigned by parents.

Where a child does not have a Connected Service iPad at the moment, then with parental permission a personal device may be used.  The iPad roll continues to be a priority for all GCC Schools with the aim that all Senior Phase Pupils will have their devices by December 2020.

IMS Management continue to work with Secondary Schools to ensure all tutors have an iPad suitable to allow video lessons with Showbie Pro (or Microsoft Teams in the event Showbie Pro being unavailable). In the meantime, it is acceptable to use a personal device to ensure children and young people are not compromised.  This will be short term as the service works to ensuring all tutors have the required technology to continue to provide the highest quality lessons considering Government Health and Safety Guidelines.

In addition, tutors should adhere to the following guidance and if in doubt check with Pamela Black in the first instance who has full access to all lessons and will be responsible for Quality Assurance;

  • All tutors should use Glasgow Virtual Music Tutors on Showbie Pro to provide Digital Lessons (or Micro Soft Teams in the event of Showbie Pro being unavailable)
  • Where possible, lessons should take place during school timetabled hours, but it must be recognised that this may require some young people to receive live video lessons from home during this time. This should be arranged in partnership with Faculty Head or Principal Teacher responsible for the Music Department and Parents. Lesson times must be negotiated and agreed with individual schools and parents and should not take place after six o’clock in the evening.
  • A record of all sessions conducted must be kept by the IMS and Music Department including start and end times. Any absences should be shared with the relevant Music Department immediately.
  • IMI must not provide their personal mobile number to pupils and must not be in receipt of pupil’s personal phone numbers.
  • Digital Lessons must be conducted in locations and situations which meet professional and safeguarding expectations. Behaviour of all young people has the same high standards as for face to face lessons.
  • IMI and Young People must ensure that the angle, focus and zoom facility of the camera is used to maximise the learning experience and to ensure the privacy of others checking that the background for teaching is professional and does not contain images or information that should not be shared.
  • An expectation to all pupils should be made that when they are involved in a video session, they should also do so in a public room e.g. living / dining room where appropriate.
  • No lesson should take place if a pupil is in a bedroom. The pupil should immediately be asked to re-join from an appropriate location in their house.
  • Where possible, other individuals for example children, family members should not be in shot or be able to be heard during a video or audio session.
  • IMI and Young People must adhere to professional standards of dress when in front of the camera. Lessons should be rescheduled if it is felt that they are not being met.
  • Should IMI become concerned by anything that they see or hear during a session, then this should be reported to the Head Teacher or designated Child Protection Officer with immediate effect.
  • IMI may not record any sessions conducted via audio or video, without full consent and agreement (e.g. to allow others to watch a lesson at a later date)
  • Students may not record any session conducted via audio or video without full consent and agreement from both IMI and Parent or Guardian.

All Digital Lessons should be pre-arranged with Pupils, scheduled in advance with appropriate notice given.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What do I do if a pupil joins the class from an inappropriate location?

Ideally pupils would log into the class from a public area in their home.  In some circumstances this may place an unreasonable burden on family spaces.

Staff should assess each situation and confer with their line managers if they are uncomfortable with the location(s) pupils are logging in from.

If issues persist, pupils should be advised they will not be allowed to continue to access the lessons if they do not find a more appropriate location to log in from.

  1. A pupil speaks or behaves inappropriately in the online classroom, how do I react?

All the normal standards of behaviour apply in the online classroom. Where possible, staff should work in partnership with the school if behaviour is inappropriate this should be dealt with in line with school policy as per face to face lessons.

Pupils should be dealt with in the same way as they would have been if the incident had taken place in a normal school environment.

  1. A pupil shares something inappropriate on their screen – what do I do?

IMI should immediately terminate the lesson and inform the school Senior Management Team of the details of what has happened. If in a group lesson and it is not possible to identify the offending pupil, the lesson should be terminated for all pupils. All pupils in the digital classroom can then be contacted as soon as possible after the event to inform them what happened, and the arrangements for future classes.

As per Management Circular 57, the IMI must write a full account of the facts using the relevant Appendix.

  1. What do I do if pupils are signing into their classes dressed inappropriately?

This should be dealt with in the same way as it would be in the face-to-face class setting. If pupil attire makes the teacher feel uncomfortable then the teacher should use turn their camera off and request the young person to do the same until the issue is addressed. If the IMI remains concerned they should terminate the lesson and contact the school CP co-ordinator.

  1. A pupil asks for a one to one online chat about a serious issue that is concerning them. What is the protocol for that?

This should immediately be referred to the School Senior Management Team and preference would be to arrange a face to face meeting. Staff should try to avoid a one to one situation with a pupil online.  Where it is judged that a pupil needs to discuss a serious issue, an arrangement could be made for another time online with two members of staff present in the meeting.

Music Service Update (October 2020)

Glasgow CREATE Music Service

October 2020

Glasgow CREATE Lockdown Report

Glasgow CREATE adapted to establish online platforms to communicate effectively with parents and families and continue to engage children and young people in expressive arts and creative learning. The new platforms include a CREATE website, YouTube and Facebook, and Blogs for the Instrumental Music and Youth Music Initiative Services. As well as offering access to lesson materials and demonstration videos, these platforms were used to run campaigns to inspire and motivate learners to engage in activities which promote positivity and creativity during a very difficult period. The ‘30 Days of Creativity’ campaign provided daily creative challenges for children to complete using digital tools. The ‘Love from Glasgow’ composing competition invited children and young people to write a piece of music as a message of positivity to family, friends, or the community. Continuing to promote a culture of positivity, Secondary pupils were asked to create a YouTube style video sharing what they love about drama and advice for upcoming S1 pupils. With the absence of end of year concerts, our digital platforms hosted a ‘Glasgow Schools Young Musician Celebration’ which gave children and young people an opportunity to showcase their talents and skills developed over the past year.

Who did it involve, including partners or other community organisations?

Glasgow Education Services’ ‘CREATE’ (Creativity and Expressive Arts Transforming Education), which includes the Instrumental Music Service and Youth Music Initiative programme, Teachers, Music Instructors, children and young people from across Glasgow Primary and Secondary schools. Partnerships with Apple, Glasgow’s Digital Learning programme, Haydock Music, Glasgow Times and the Benedetti Foundation.

What difference did this make?

Children and young people were able to access high quality and engaging learning experiences at home via the online platforms. Families without internet accessed home learning ideas for Music, Drama and creativity via Glasgow Times articles and packs sent to Hub schools. Teachers were able to access materials to support expressive arts and creative learning, which were shared via school digital learning platforms and used to engage children in Hub schools.

The use of digital tools has enabled children and young people to continue to receive instrumental tuition and access individualised lesson materials and regular feedback from instructors. With over 60 participants, virtual concerts allowed young people to celebrate their successes.

The daily videos for 30 Days of Creativity, shared via YouTube, Twitter and Facebook, received high levels of engagement with 27.8K views and 244 subscribers on Youtube; on Twitter, we had 572.3K impressions, 3.9K link clicks and 1.2K retweets, with creative responses to the challenges shared by children and Teachers across the city. The ‘Love from Glasgow’ competition engaged Primary and Secondary pupils from across the city in song writing and composition with the winning entries receiving prize vouchers from Haydock Music in celebration of their creativity.

How has this changed CREATE’s outlook, practice, work and how might this have an impact long term?

Over the past 6 months, there has been a complete re-think about how music and instrumental lessons are delivered. Demonstrating commitment and creativity, all 80 instructors adapted their practice and enhanced their skills using digital technology to deliver lessons via Teams during lockdown and continue to provide individualised support for young people through blended learning. The use of digital tools to facilitate team meetings will have an impact long term, having increased communication and collaboration between members of a large peripatetic team and enabled further opportunities for sharing practice.

Due to the success of the 30 Days of Creativity project and partnership with Apple, this approach will be implemented in the future to continue to promote creativity and digital innovation across the curriculum.

CREATE is committed to developing a comprehensive online resource which will have an impact in the short and long term on the support available for teachers to deliver the expressive arts curriculum. A progression framework, resources, videos and live stream lessons will widen the reach of the service, providing regular high-quality learning experiences. This equitable approach will ensure all children and young people access a progressive expressive arts programme, which is sustainable moving forwards.

During lockdown almost all children were deprived of the daily social interactions provided by the school environment, and therefore unable to create and develop bonds with peers and teachers, which resulted in some children being disengaged with school and learning.

Listening and music appreciation has proven to be an invaluable and therapeutic resource, adding benefits that extend beyond acquisition of music skills.

In listening to music, children are developing the ability to evoke and share powerful emotional responses and experiences. This has provided an opportunity for them express how they were and are feeling, and to vent potentially difficult thoughts or emotions. With each piece of music being different there are limitless opportunities to explore, and this helped children improve their communication skills, reduce stress and anxiety, express themselves and promote well-being.

Social-emotional competencies and well-being have a significant impact on how pupils both enjoy school and learn, listening activities enhance this greatly, as well as developing perceptual, language and literacy skills.  This will continue to be a focus for YMI Music moving forward as part of the Music Skills Progression Framework.

Glasgow CREATE’s plans moving forward

CREATE Music Service remains committed to ensuring the safe delivery of music lessons and tuition ensuring the provision of high-quality learning, teaching and skills progression for children and young people whilst following Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council Education Department Guidance in terms of COVID19.

All establishments are adhering to CREATE Additional Guidance for Schools which includes guidance for Health and Safety and is subject to change and revision.

The Scottish Government Sub Group on Coronavirus (COVID-19) Education and Children’s Issues provided an advisory note on PE, Music and Drama in Schools on 10th September 2020.  The advice is current on this date.  The advice is reviewed periodically and may change as evidence is published and more about the virus is understood.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-advisory-sub-group-on-education-and-childrens-issues-advice-on-physical-education-music-and-drama-in-schools/

Glasgow CREATE have based all Music Service decisions on this guidance.

CREATE Bands, Orchestras, Ensembles and Choirs

There are approximately 500 children and young people from Primary and Secondary Schools across Glasgow who take part in CREATE City Groups based in City Halls.

In accordance with National Guidance and to ensure the Health and Safety of all involved, it is unlikely that large scale group music activities will be possible for the foreseeable future.  Therefore, all CREATE Bands, Orchestras, Ensembles and Choirs have been suspended at present. This will continue to be reviewed and advice will be updated accordingly.

However, CREATE Guidance is clear that where Health and Safety Guidance allows, schools may encourage children and young people to explore smaller group performances with strict social distancing considering the different instrument groups and us of online platforms to make music together may also be a possibility.

At present, Scottish Government Advice states;

Music/singing

 

  1. Scientific and medical advice around how activities such as singing, talking at volume e.g. in theatre performance, or playing wind/brass musical instruments can be managed safely is still being developed. These activities should be avoided during the initial return to schools.

Therefore, the decision has been taken that at present under no circumstances should the use of Voice, Pipes, Woodwind and Brass take place in schools until Government Guidance is updated.

 

Instrumental Music Service (IMS) 

Each Instrumental Music Instructor (IMI) has been allocated a base school. Base schools have been allocated centrally and are reviewed on an ongoing basis. All Faculty Heads and Principal Teachers have been informed of this allocation.

Tutors will visit up to five schools in one week where there must be a suitably ventilated room available.  However, tutors should not visit more than one school per day.

26 out of 30 Secondary Schools responded to a recent survey indicating that they were satisfied that the Instrumental Music Timetables are working well. 20 schools have reported that IMI rotations are also working well in their school.

There are a variety of rotations for face to face lessons in schools. However, on the alternate weeks where a young person is not receiving a face to face lesson, they are having contact through Showbie Pro or Teams to ensure learning is progressed.

All voice, woodwind, brass and pipes tuition is presently being completed remotely.

At presents tutor rotations are as follows;

Weekly Tuition             31        

Two Weekly                 37

Three Weekly               10

 

Video Lessons

Despite restrictions, CREATE has ensured continuation of high-quality tuition with all Woodwind, Brass, Pipes and Voice lessons being delivered via Showbie Pro or Microsoft Teams.

At present 13 schools are reporting that remote lessons are being facilitated in school and 13 are reporting that young people are accessing these from home.  Tutors are adapting their hours to support children and young people and progress learning.

Most schools are reporting that they have good systems in place to liaise with Instrumental Music Service regarding school and remote lessons and most are confident that they are gathering strong video evidence for SQA Practical Examinations.

4 schools can access Showbie Pro at present and 16 are able to access Teams for video lessons.

The majority of IMS now have access to an Ipad and almost all have access if using a personal device.

Where there has been insufficient space in a school, IMI have been able to deliver digital instrumental music lessons using Showbie Pro (or Microsoft Teams in the event of Showbie Pro being unavailable) from an alternative school or home.

Youth Music Initiative (YMI)

In Term One, Youth Music Initiative (YMI) Staff have concentrated on supporting Primary Schools with Early Literacy Skills and Phonological Awareness with a focus on Primary One and Two which was extended where time allowed. This equated to each school accessing a block of 4 weeks. At present singing is not permitted as per Scottish Government Guidance therefore there has been a focus on using rhythm, rhyme, clapping and body percussion. Quiet humming has been permitted.

Challenges and Solutions

Out of the 26 schools who responded to the survey, 12 are reporting that remote lessons are working well and 14 are experiencing difficulties with wifi, whitelisting and physical space.

White Listing issues with Showbie Pro have meant that some children and young people are unable to access video lessons both in school and at home.  However, GCC Digital Lead is working with Showbie Pro on a solution to this as significant research has shown that this is by far the best platform for tuition due to its live video facility as well as the ability to upload files and provide feedback.

Almost all Instrumental Music Tutors have accessed digital and face to face training on Showbie Pro which was very successful. This will be offered to Youth Music Initiative Tutors moving forward.

Wifi in some School Music Departments is causing difficulty in accessing Showbie Pro or Teams which is limiting the ability for live music lessons.  IMS Manager is identifying the schools where Wifi is the barrier and reporting to Head of Service who will address this with the appropriate personnel.

At present, the restriction in place which only allows tutors to visit two schools per week is limiting the number of children and young people who can receive weekly face to face tuition.  This is being reviewed on a regular basis due to the fact that if tutors were able to visit one school per day it would allow a significant increase in the number of face to face weekly tuition with less rotations.

The most serious concern remains the restriction on teaching voice, pipes, woodwind and brass in school. Although extremely challenging, IMI Tutors in this category are continually being creative to ensure that children and young people are not put at a disadvantage.  At present, children and young people are accessing tuition from home and where this is not possible tutors are using recordings to progress learning.

There is continual review of the Digital Offer by CREATE Senior Managers to ensure that the level of disadvantage to these young people is minimised as much as possible.

At present, YMI Tutors are limited in the numbers of children they can teach in a week and impact in terms of skills progression is limited.

The decision has been taken to review the YMI Service to support Senior Phase Young People who are working towards practical examinations.  Where experience allows, YMI Tutors will support these young people through both face to face and digital lessons.  This will also help to reduce the number of rotations.

YMI Tutors are also prioritising supporting Music Initiatives in Primary Schools such as Baby Strings.

In addition, they are working in teams to complete the Music Skills Progression Framework for Broad General Education as this will support schools to deliver a high-quality music curriculum.

YMI Tutors will remain the link for their schools and Primary Schools are identifying a CREATE Champion who they will link with for all areas of the Expressive Arts.

The CREATE Website is being launched in October 2020 and it has a teachers’ section for all Expressive Arts Frameworks in addition to information and support for young people and families.

YMI tutors will also be allocated a Year Group and will be live streaming lessons to schools to ensure all children have access to high quality music lessons on a weekly basis.

In addition, YMI Tutors are Mentoring Bachelor of Education Year One Students from Royal Conservatoire of Scotland who will assist with supporting schools to deliver the Skills Progression Framework for Music.

CREATE Initiatives 2020

To further ensure the quality of Musical Experiences for our children and young people CREATE is exploring online digital ensembles for Strings, Woodwind, Brass, Voice, Guitar, Pipes, Drums, Harp and Percussion which are leading towards a streamed Christmas Concert on 14th and 15th December which will involve all Secondary Schools. YMI Tutors are presently exploring how Primary Schools can also contribute to this City Concert.  As with Glasgow CREATE tradition the concert will feature a city performance of Highland Cathedral.

Glasgow CREATE Baby Strings, in Eastbank Learning Community is back up and running supported by the Instrumental Music Service and are exploring concerts which will be streamed on digital channels.

Saint Roch’s Percussion Project, supported by Instrumental Music Service are planning their annual Percussion Festival which will be streamed online in November.

CREATE Instrumental Service is planning to work with BBCSSO on virtual masterclasses for all String Players linked to the materials being used for the Digital Ensembles which will take place early November.

An online Percussion Workshop is presently underway to replace the live workshops to ensure continuity of learning for our children and young people.

CREATE Instrumental Music Manager has worked with Trinity to ensure that Music Examinations will take place for Glasgow Children and Young People virtually.

Glasgow CREATE Big Band are planning performance online in December 2020.

YMI Tutors are constructing Ukulele Tutorial Videos and there will be video support small Samba groups in Primary Schools.

CREATE Digital Platforms

A member of the CREATE Youth Music Initiative Team has been given the remit for CREATE Digital Platforms on a fulltime basis to support the change to an online delivery to ensure creative thinking and new ways of working ensure high standards continue.

CREATE Website – www.glasgowcreate.online

Twitter – http://twitter.com/GlasgowCREATE

Facebook – http://facebook.com/GlasgowCREATE/

CREATE YouTube – www.youtube.com/c/glasgowcreate

IMS YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdvBpL4C-aJXj2yS9JTv7Tw

YMI Website – https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/gc/createymi/

IMS Website – https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/gc/glasgoweducationserviceims/

CREATE Teachers Resources – https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/gc/createresources

 

Rewrite the Future: Imagine If

In August 2019 more than 60 pupils and staff took part in a song writing workshop to create music about their experiences of school and the education system.

Five songs were created on the day, which explored the similarities between different roles in education.

Participant Kirsty Wilkie, a Challenge Leader of Learning at Glasgow City Council, said: “I was inspired by our young people of Glasgow.

“They were truly leading the learning experience and their confidence, passion and fabulous manners was the icing on the cake.

“We’ve got so much to be proud of and it’s so exciting watching them Rewrite Their Future.”

Here is a sneak peak at the morning session and below you can listen to the 5 finished songs that were composed and professionally recorded following the workshop.