"Where do I even start?" - Marie Bessant

This is a question I have found myself asking at least twice in the past when finding myself in a situation you may well be familiar with yourself – inheriting a year 11 class who haven’t done enough towards their GCSE Music with your predecessor. It is a common comment on social media at the moment and has inspired me to share my thoughts.

Your class may be in this predicament for more than one reason:

• Following a previous version of a specification so any work they have done isn’t quite fit for purpose
• An absent predecessor means they had been looked after by various supply teachers who didn’t know how to help
• Had spent year 10 on a specification that didn’t suit them as a cohort.

These are by no means the only reasons, but the ones I have come across frequently in my travels, both as a teacher myself and when supporting others. It may be that you are more comfortable teaching a specification you are familiar with, or that you study all the options to make a decision based on their ability or interests and therefore you decide to switch – it’s the start for you but the middle for them!

So what DO you do?

Step One - Honesty

I would suggest that the most important thing you have in your arsenal is your relationship with the students. Whether you are new to the school or just new to the class you need to be honest with them. I promise you they will appreciate being made to feel like they are in on the facts. Let them own their learning.

Tell them how it is –there’s lots of work to do BUT you HAVE A PLAN! It’s important here to NOT blame anyone and if the class start laying into their previous teacher don’t let them! Look forward positively - “yes well, we’re in this together now, we can DO THIS!” This really works with a disillusioned and disengaged class who at first glance are an attitude filled teenage nightmare… take it from me!

Step Two – Formulate The Plan and share it with them 

You will know exactly what has to be created/recorded/written and by when. This is where The Plan comes in.

Lay out a timetable – week by week or lesson by lesson. Have deadlines – all to hand in Composition 1 by November; all to record solo performances by Christmas and so on. You may not know your class very well yet but you’ll have a class list and the term dates – that’s all you need.

Make a display! I used A3 sugar paper and my bare hands and a long ruler to create a table:

Mine loved taking my big pen and ticking their boxes when they’d finished. I admit to bribery – a little Haribo and competition goes a long way. It may be that your preference is not to track progress so publicly, so an alternative:

Step Three – Have class performances

Get them used to performing to each other and you as soon as possible. After you have shared your plan, set them a task – choose a piece of music to perform to the class in a week’s time (I mean September, or whenever it is you’ve taken over). Tell them you’ll use it to assess them and set their targets. Here is where it is a useful exercise for you too. (Now, I know you may not have any control over the targets SLT set on the school data system, but a sensible “baseline test” will help you with any justification you may or may not end up having to make!) Use the marking criteria to do this and share that with them too. (ALERT – self/peer assessment opportunity here!)

Step Four – Hold “recording days” 

I once managed to get SLT sign off for two days where I had my class off timetable all day to get recording done – when I did not get this another year, I planned it into their timetabled lessons and/or held them in the holidays. Off-timetable really helps, though. The sense of camaraderie, and listening and helping each other record creates a lovely atmosphere too. If you end up giving up a holiday day bring cake – treats always help!

My Top Tips:

• Make your classroom a musical, loud place where they feel safe to perform, improvise and compose together and share their feedback with each other.
  
• Don’t treat the elements of the course separately - time is pressing, but have workshop style lessons where they listen, perform and compose in order to learn about the genres and styles in the Areas of Study (or set works, or however your chosen board label them). This will help them in the long run in the exam as well as when they’re composing and performing
• Plan your Schemes of Work around the Areas of Study for the first Half term. (Performance 1 and Composition 1 don’t have to link to a genre so they can be working on these.) Project and workshop based schemes work well. Lots of music and talking will embed the knowledge they need without them realising it! Use your plenaries to point out new vocab and skills you’ve observed them using. This is another method I’ve used as it boosts their confidence - the “ooh I didn’t realise I did that!” moment is really gratifying for them and you
• From October half term, or at least Christmas, set them on their own individual paths. Still have workshop lessons for Area of Study, and exam practise lessons, but again give them ownership of what they have left to compose/record, what improvements they want to make etc
• Save the half term leading up to Easter for improvements to coursework. Make sure your class know this from the outset of The Plan. Explain to them that YOU need time to mark their work so THEY have time to improve it
• The remainder of the year leading up to the exam is exam practice. There’s no need to ditch the practical lessons, but do add in some listening papers and exam style questions and let them mark their work – you know the drill!

Most of all, keep the music and the students at the heart of what you do, and you’ll do fine ♫

About the author

Marie Bessant - Subject Specialist - Music

Marie joined OCR in July 2014 as a Music Subject Specialist after teaching Music for 10 years. With experience as Head of Department at secondary schools and FE colleges Marie has taught GCSE, A Level, BTEC and HND. As OCR’s Music specialist Marie is leading the development for the new Music GCSEs and A Levels as well as looking after resources, CPD and support for the current Music qualifications. Alongside this Marie is an organist and pianist with a love for rock music.