Children and young people

Almost a quarter of secondary schools are not meeting a new government expectation for Key Stage 3 pupils to be taught an hour of classroom music a week, a survey has found.

Schools Week reports that the expectation was introduced in September as part of the government’s national plan for music, with similar expectations also introduced for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

However, a survey of senior secondary school leaders found that 16 per cent were teaching for less than an hour a week, and 2 per cent were not teaching at all.

Teacher Tapp's research found that another five per cent use a system in which pupils are only taught for part of the year.

Overall, two-thirds said they met the weekly commitment of one hour, with seven per cent saying they taught for more than an hour.

Ongoing issues with recruitment accountability pressures and funding have been cited as possible reasons for schools failing to meet the target.
 

Ballet Cymru is offering support to children and young people living with juvenile arthritis as part of a creative collaboration launched with Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, funded by Arts Council Wales.

Dr Joanne May, a consultant at the Children's Hospital for Wales, who initiated the Dance to Move partnership, said: "We aim to deliver holistic care, but time in clinics is limited, which often means the focus is on condition management and treatment.

"Early on, we recognised that creative interventions would benefit children not only because dance elements would support movement, but also because they provided an opportunity to build confidence and support the wellbeing of children and their families."

The programme provides an immersive experience for children and families by offering dance, drawing, costume design and storytelling.

Five trade unions have written to the Chair of the government’s Cultural Education Plan Expert Advisory Panel, saying the panel has failed to engage with them in the development of the forthcoming Cultural Education Plan.

The letter to Baroness Deborah Bull, signed by the general secretaries of the National Education Union, Equity, Musicians’ Union, Bectu and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, expresses "disappointment" that no union representatives have been invited to sit on the panel.

"Despite terms of reference which require the panel to represent 'those responsible for delivering cultural education and wider related sectors such as arts', no trade union representatives in the arts, entertainment or education were invited to participate since the panel was established in July 2023,” the letter states.

The panel, comprised of 22 people, has been overseeing the development of a new plan to improve cultural education for young people, which was due for publication by the end of last year.

Equity’s General Secretary Paul W Fleming said: “The fact that representatives of those involved in delivering the arts, education or entertainment have not been invited to input into this process beggars belief.”

“The complete lack of engagement calls into question the robustness of any recommendations which the so-called ‘expert’ advisory panel makes to government in advance of the proposed Cultural Education Plan.”

“If you want expert advice, you’re best off listening to the hundreds of thousands of world-class educators and creative practitioners working every day to deliver the arts, culture and education. You simply won’t have a meaningful Cultural Education Plan without them.”