Planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time – or lack of it – is a frequent bone of contention for many teachers. But time set aside during the timetabled day to allow teachers to carry out PPA activities is, according to the Nation Union of Teachers, a necessity for helping ‘to relieve some of the existing workload pressures on teachers … and should reduce overall working hours and prevent working weeks of excessive length’.
Teachers are entitled to a minimum of 10% of their timetabled teaching time for PPA – but how do schools provide cover in these straitened times?
One solution can be buying in PPA packages. In the music area of the curriculum, that can kill two birds with one stone: you buy in PPA cover and you are simultaneously getting a qualified music specialist.
Rock and Pop Foundation
The Rock and Pop Foundation offers a comprehensive syllabus for a range of instruments which has also been adapted for whole-class teaching PPA packages, with the same teacher coming in weekly, for whole- or half-days.
With more than 3,500 children being taught each week by Steven Sammut's 40-odd music teachers, he believes everyone benefits from having an external specialist teacher brought in.
‘The demand really is there for this, especially at primary level, because of the lack of music specialists,’ he says. ‘What we offer is an industry-based professional musician who won't be spending their whole week teaching in a school but will be out performing, actually making music professionally.
‘This brings something unique to the pupils; they can see an outside pathway, somewhere they could go with music and this offers something special and different to them.
‘Class teachers have so much to deal with, especially with the government emphasis on targets and results. We can really help take off the pressure a little for them while simultaneously inspiring children.’
Despite its name, the Rock and Pop Foundation offers a traditional music curriculum which focuses on pitch, tempo, rhythm and dynamics in addition to reading notation and exploring music from a variety of genres.
Live performance showcases provide the children with the opportunity to demonstrate the skills they have learnt throughout the year to an audience of teachers, parents and fellow students. The organisation will also take responsibility for instrumental lessons, equipment maintenance, school clubs, Christmas concerts, and all the planning and assessments that would be expected of a normal class teacher will be taken care of by the visiting specialist.
Primary PPA Cover Ltd
Primary PPA Cover Ltd also specialises in delivering music lessons that are tailored to the National Curriculum for all key stages. Business development manager Harley Bowcutt says that more than 150 schools across England have signed up for the company's services in the four years it has been offering music lessons.
The company started life offering language teaching but has now expanded considerably and, says Bowcutt, music is an area where there is heavy demand and specialists are really valued.
‘It's one of our most sought-after subjects and we work very hard to match our teachers to a school. In Coventry for example, we have a huge bank of staff and lots of music clients but in quieter, rural areas it is more difficult, but we pride ourselves on finding the right person for the job.’
Bowcutt believes that schools value the consistency of seeing the same person every week, a specialist who comes complete with centrally-planned lessons. Lessons use a wide range of teaching techniques and resources as well as every lesson plan being followed by a lesson evaluation sheet.
She is also keen for her staff to provide extracurricular opportunities: ‘We offer both whole-class or one-to-one lessons and we're doing very well in a lot of inter-school – even international – competitions, as it's important for there to be a community element to this. We also organise performances and assemblies where parents can come in and see what their children have been doing.’
PPA Cover Ltd
Many teachers haven't been given a proper exposure to music, says PPA Cover Ltd's Gemma Lane © Oliveromg/Shutterstock
Gemma Lane, operations director at PPA Cover Ltd, has also seen a high demand for PPA cover in all creative subjects. ‘So many class teachers have neither the experience nor the expertise to teach music,’ she says. ‘It is a very hard job when you are expected to be an expert on several subjects and there is such a focus on results.
‘Many teachers haven't been given a proper exposure to music and when they do get the chance to upskill, their focus is understandably on the main subjects. What we provide can really be of huge benefit.’
Lane, who offers primary cover mainly in music, modern foreign languages, art and physical education, employs only music graduates with teaching experience; some will have qualified teacher status, some will not.
‘Schools vary a lot in what they ask for,’ she says. ‘Some want all-singing, all-dancing performers to teach their pupils, some are more focused on the curriculum or performance aspects, but we can take care of all that, and provide singing assemblies and performance opportunities too.’
There are well-rehearsed arguments which argue that music teaching should remain the preserve of class teachers, so it is perceived as everyday as maths or English, a subject for everyone. By bringing in someone external, you can make the subject less accessible. But, pragmatically, when an Institute of Education/Paul Hamlyn Foundation survey reported a mere 8% of primary teachers feel confident to teach music and when you need PPA cover anyway, it seems a pretty solid solution to bring in an expert.
With more than 130 primaries in England now using PPA Cover Ltd, Lane feels pleased with she offers. ‘I worry the creative outlet we once had has been lost from schools. This is one way of helping bring it back – not just for the children, but for their parents too, and for everyone who comes to watch them.’
