New CBSO School approved by Government

[Zucchini]

https://cbso.co.uk/news/cbso-school-approved-by-government

[french frank]

https://cbso.co.uk/news/cbso-school-...-by-government

Leaving all the politics of 'academies' out of it (means and ends) it does seem like a small, interesting step towards something seen as worth achieving.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Leaving all the politics of 'academies' out of it (means and ends) it does seem like a small, interesting step towards something seen as worth achieving.

Er… So this school will be like schools were before Local Management of Schools, Ofsted, the National Curriculum, Grant Maintained Schools, Free Schools, Academies, Performance Related Pay, Play-if-you-can-pay, and countless smaller regressions that have taken place since the 1980s? The CBSO has its heart in the right place though.

[MrGongGong]

Leaving all the politics of 'academies' out of it (means and ends) it does seem like a small, interesting step towards something seen as worth achieving.

It's not an "academy" though. It's a "free" school.
Any port in a storm I guess ?

[french frank]

The CBSO has its heart in the right place though.

Any port in a storm I guess ?

That was my point. Some rules are meant to be broken.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's not an "academy" though. It's a "free" school.

Is it? It's being run by an Academy Trust.

Free schools were thought up by the discredited Chris Woodhead.

[MrGongGong]

Is it? It's being run by an Academy Trust.

Free schools were thought up by the discredited Chris Woodhead.

"The school will be funded by the Department for Education through the free school funding programme and will be run by Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust, a rapidly-growing Trust in the West Midlands led by the Shireland Collegiate Academy (rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted)."

NOT that there is anything wrong with the CBSO

[french frank]

'Free schools are legally academies'

[MrGongGong]

'Free schools are legally academies'

Ok , thanks for that

Angels on heads of pins ?

[Stephen Maddock]

It will be an Academy once it opens - as part of a Multi-Academy Trust (Collegiate Academy Trust, started by Shireland Collegiate Academy in Smethwick).

The Free School terminology really just refers to how it gets approved by government.

There have of course been (and still are) state comprehensives with excellent music provision (I went to one myself and my father taught at another); but these are ever harder to find, especially in more deprived areas, and we believe that the closeness of the relationship with a world-class orchestra will make this school unique.

Glad you approve!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It will be an Academy once it opens - as part of a Multi-Academy Trust (Collegiate Academy Trust, started by Shireland Collegiate Academy in Smethwick).

The Free School terminology really just refers to how it gets approved by government.

There have of course been (and still are) state comprehensives with excellent music provision (I went to one myself and my father taught at another); but these are ever harder to find, especially in more deprived areas, and we believe that the closeness of the relationship with a world-class orchestra will make this school unique.

Glad you approve!

I'm not at all happy about the underlying issues. So the CBSO does its bit by creating a school that prioritises music. That's great. But even in Birmingham, this will be but a drop in the ocean. More and more schools are finding excuses to increasingly marginalise music, and this new institution is unlikely to reverse this, though I hope I'm wrong.

[french frank]

I'm not at all happy about the underlying issues. So the CBSO does its bit by creating a school that prioritises music. That's great. But even in Birmingham, this will be but a drop in the ocean. More and more schools are finding excuses to increasingly marginalise music, and this new institution is unlikely to reverse this, though I hope I'm wrong.

It'll be a very different beast, won't it. If, as an academy specialising in music, it ends up with almost 900 places, that will compare well enough with X schools in Birmingham each spreading the music teaching quite thinly. Whether that will make music teaching even more 'elitist' will depend on the breadth of its intake. In the end, like it or not, academies are part of the system we have.

[Stephen Maddock]

Remember: it’s not in Birmingham, it’s in Sandwell. The intake will not be elitist in any sense, all being well.

[MrGongGong]

I'm not at all happy about the underlying issues. .

I don't know anyone who is.
Nor do I think that the folks at the CBSO are happy about the way that music has been systematically weakened and sometimes removed entirely.

What is to be done though?

[Stephen Maddock]

I don't know anyone who is.
Nor do I think that the folks at the CBSO are happy about the way that music has been systematically weakened and sometimes removed entirely.

What is to be done though?

Correct. That’s the reason we ARE doing something. And the plan is to do a proper piece of research into whether these young people end up with better exam results, employability and life skills. If it shows that our approach is successful, then maybe, just maybe, it will convince other schools and government that music has to be a much bigger part of the curriculum in every school.

That’s the plan.