Category: Curriculum Design
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A solution to help ‘students who are not actively playing or writing music’ to find confidence in the understanding of music theory and language
This amount of learning is vast for an 11-12 year old student. That every single individual learner is engaged and wanting to do more, is awesome. The learning potential of this approach with the addition of Kahoot is amazing!
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A new tool with value for students to track their investments in musical learning
When filming the recent BBC Inside Out programme, I was drawn to consider the challenge of student accountability. In particular, that Key stage 3 students are rarely challenged individually to prove their understanding or progress. Using the traditional (non-iPad) approach the whole class listened to the lesson, but weren’t each expected to show understanding within…
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My Reflections on the BBC Digital Detox week at Manor CE Academy, York 27-31 January 2020
At the end of 2019, I was approached by BBC Inside Out to take part in a challenge, which would be filmed and shown on BBC1. They were interested in seeing “how much smart screen technology has got into our lives.”
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A Year In The Life…
Reflection – My Music Teacher Year September 2018-July 2019 Those of you who have read my posts since January may have noticed a silent period between Easter and July. It’s always busy in my job, but some times of year are complex due to the number of things happening at once. My busiest times are…
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The Story of “Performing Arts Leaders”
In the summer of 2018 we surveyed many groups of people across our community to gauge opinion on a range of factors relating to Manor Performing Arts. One aspect was the summer production. The challenge is how we can have a summer performance event that has a positive impact on the learning and experience of…
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iPad Music Competition – Results
Many congratulations to all young people across the country who have begun to discover the joy of creating music on an iPad. Our 2019 iPad Music competition has now ended. Congratulations to our winners who each received a £25 Apple App Store Voucher, a copy of “How to Write Great Music: Understanding the Process from…
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Building the ‘Ultimate Extra’
The ‘Extra’ is always a choice. I aspire to creating ‘Ultimate Extra’, which ensures every minute of every day is filled with opportunity. It is not contractual, however the difference it makes to every student and their wider community is so significant, it’s a choice worth making. The students are always my first thought, but…
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Inspiring a love of learning (rather than a fear of exams)
There will always be challenges in this profession, but perhaps we’re getting the problems and solutions the wrong way round. Could we approach exam preparation differently? Here’s a real-world solution with a fantastic outcome!
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ORASingers #PerfectInspiration
Last night I was fortunate to be at LSO St Luke’s in London to listen to ORASingers. It was the second time I’ve experienced the choir live, the first being at Manchester Cathedral with 40 or so of our students (aged 13-15) in February 2018. After last night’s performance I tweeted: Why #perfectinspiration? For me,…
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MusicIn60
What could you make in 60 minutes? Be inventive. Be creative. Try it! I’m exploring what’s possible with an iPad and 60 Minutes #MusicIn60 #JustBeCreative #MusicIsForEverybody #CreateWithoutFear #Challenge #MusicEducation The best way to demonstrate our passion is to create. Listen to Opus 1 here Listen to Opus 2 here Listen to Opus 3 here Enter…
Music Teacher Solutions 