I started my music teaching career in 2002 as a secondary school music teacher in Leeds. In the following years, I worked as a music educator in a variety of settings, until I hung up my secondary teaching hat in 2015. At the time, circumstances meant I had relied on union support; and on leaving the classroom that year, my experience had lit a spark for union involvement and I vowed to ‘pay forward’ the excellent union support I had experienced when I really needed it. Union membership had always been really important to me, seeing the work that reps had done in the schools I'd worked in, but I never thought I would become involved until I joined the MU.
Being a Visiting Music Teacher is a privilege, and a role that has undergone many changes over the years. Often known as ‘peris’ by the wider public, we are important and integral parts of the schools that we visit. We may be required to teach one to one instrumental or singing lessons, we may be called on to lead choirs and ensembles, and we may take on classroom music teaching, providing curriculum input. We can be key in curriculum development and the provision of CPD. Above all, we open the doors to the joy of practical music-making in its myriad forms. As important as our role is, however, it's hard not to feel like a forgotten area of the education sector, and many of us hope for more recognition from our new government, of the importance of VMTs and the role as a career path.
In late 2015 I started working on a freelance basis for the music hub in the Calderdale metropolitan area, alongside supply work. As the freelance music-making grew, I found a love for primary music provision, and Kodály pedagogy, and my timetable began to fill. A friend of mine was heavily involved with the MU, and suggested I became a Hub Rep, as they were then called. I realised that this was my opportunity to help colleagues ‘on the chalk face’ and made enquiries. I was soon part of a really dedicated team of fellow reps, sharing ideas, advice and navigating the wider picture of music education in the UK.
Education reps come from a wide variety of settings, with hub models that work in almost as many different ways as there are hubs. The past few years have seen huge changes to music education hub structure, the most noticeable to many observers being the forced merge of hubs down to 43 larger organisations. While many VMTs are exploring the changes that are occurring on the ground tentatively, a massive amount of work has been undertaken by hub principals and management teams, juggling changes to structures, governance and funding, and preserving jobs.
We are extremely lucky to work for a music hub that values the MU and its input. In 2019 our leadership team began to make plans to change working conditions for colleagues, moving from a self-employed model to employment. The MU and other unions were involved in the contract and terms of employment consultations, and prior to that had been invited to deliver a day of CPD on IR35 and employment law.
The MU was very supportive throughout the process, as we moved through contractual changes and the Covid-19 pandemic, which just happened to run concurrently. The last two years have seen further changes to pay structures and working hours, and Calderdale Music management has been keen to work with the union and take on advice given during consultation meetings.
Part of my role as Education Rep, which I think is quite unique to Calderdale Music, is to meet regularly with our principal, bringing issues raised by staff. These can vary but might range from policy queries and suggestions to issues regarding terms and conditions, or day-to-day teaching queries. Asking teaching colleagues for their questions and suggestions and taking these to our management team is a really important and enjoyable part of my role. It's great to work for an organisation that is so passionate about working in partnership with a union.
