Reason for this site 

I am Director of Music at Soham Village College, Cambridgeshire.  I decided to create a music website in the summer after my first year of teaching, July-August 2000, to be used by teachers and pupils for several reasons.  Finding good music resources and links on the web can be a troublesome task.  My site allows you instant access to some worksheets I have created and used effectively.  It also allows pupils to research extra information and revise class work without taking away valuable worksheets.

Why Study Music?

There is a long standing controversy behind the place of music in school education.  None-the-less, the establishment of universal education in England during the mid nineteenth century allows music to be seen differently.  Music changed from being a relaxation subject to one with more status.  John Paynter wrote, "It was seen as a means for the teacher to enter the pupil's minds more easily than might be able through literature."  

Music was beginning to be seen as a valued subject that could contribute to the all round education that a child needs.  If one was to refer to 1931 and the publication of the Hadow Report (Board of Education, 1931), it is evident that the place of music in education was being discussed very seriously:

"The educative value of music has often been overlooked in the past.  It has been sometimes mistakenly regarded as a soft relaxation......  If taught on sound lines it should react upon the whole work of a school. In no subject is concentration more necessary; in no subject is there so much scope for the disciplined and corporate expression of the emotions."

Beneficial effects of music

		I believe music to be an intrinsic and important part of every child's education.
		Music allows pupils to express and share feelings, thoughts and ideas through personal experience of performing and composing.
		Music is a form of communication.
		As music comes from various cultures and societies it allows us to understand those from different parts of the world through non-verbal communication.  Thus exploring moral and spiritual issues.
		Music participation contributes to the whole development of the child.  Through having fun with music, children are able to formulate listening skills, express themselves, create intellectual and artistic skills and group skills.

Links

Last updated 27 January 2002