Youth Band and Little Big Band spent a weekend away, preparing for their first public performance since February 2020 see

Music matters Bexley Music round up

Madelaine Caplin,

Director of School Improvement and Bexley Music writes: I start by saying a huge Trust ‘thank you’ to all Bexley Music staff. The adaptability, creativity and professionalism of the team is to be commended. Take up from schools wanting high quality whole class music provision, small group or individual instrumental tuition, has been very encouraging. Participants from 5 – 80 years old are accessing music tuition and ensembles, bands, choirs, and orchestras at Belmont Academy. This venue is a hive of activity during evenings and weekends. However, it has not been an easy term. The current rules and regulations regarding lessons, rehearsals and performances during the pandemic are stringent and restrictive. Despite this Bexley Music has continued to survive and to thrive.

In September members of the Bexley Youth Orchestra, Bexley Youth Band and Little Big Band spent a weekend away, preparing for their first public performance since February 2020. They showcased their work to an enthusiastic audience at the Lesnes Abbey Proms. The warmth of early autumn sunshine, the beautiful setting and the crowd settled on the grass with food and drink aplenty added to the atmosphere. It was a great way to kickstart a term of musical events. Since then, Bexley Music staff and students haven’t stopped. Some of our young musicians participated in the London Jazz Festival at the Royal Festival Hall. Bexley Music was represented at the LSO East London Academy performance at LSO St Lukes. Young musicians playing alongside the London Symphony Orchestra members. What could be more inspiring!

Demonstration Week involving Bexley Music staff visiting over 34 schools was a great success, with new partnerships formed. At Harris Academy Falconwood extra-curricular string and brass clubs together with targeted instrumental and vocal tuition for GCSE students are now in place.

And there is much to look forward to. Coming up in 2022 are Bexley Young Musician of the Year Awards, the Olympic 10th Anniversary performance with LSO On Track, Music Tours to Jersey, Berlin and Prague, a Pan London Battle of the Bands event for Bexley secondary school student and the Bexley Music Festival.

We will also welcome ArtsTrain, close partners of ours, soon to be based with us at Belmont Academy from January 2022. ArtsTrain, offers diverse and creative music projects particularly for young people suffering financial disadvantage and those seeking alternative music provision.

Part of London South East Academies Trust

BEXLEY USIC

On the road to recovery: curriculum and quality matters

Andy Cowan, Chief Operating Officer – Curriculum and Quality writes: It’s a good feeling as we reach the end of term one, isn’t it? Of all the component parts of the year, it’s the one that feels so much longer given our return to enrolment in late summer, induction and all the essential pieces of work that it takes to kick off the academic year successfully. There is so much to celebrate; our students have returned in significant numbers from a period of unprecedented uncertainty to study and think about their futures with positivity and commitment. Whilst we know that much of that uncertainty persists in many ways, it’s that optimism and hopefulness that we must capture and distil in our lessons, planning and actions across the rest of the year. The festive break is great time to remind ourselves of all the things that motivate and excite us. And some quiet space where you don’t check your emails is important.

We have lots to think about and consider across the College for the rest of this year. Most of it related to the big picture – the opportunities, projects, bids, initiatives (both local and national) and of course the students and their outcomes. When it comes to the crunch, that’s what matters most isn’t it? Every day, every student is exposed to that excellent experience making them better informed, more excited, engaged and committed to moving on to the next stage. That is where our focus must remain in order to recover the achievement and progression opportunities for our students. Making sure that teaching and learning remains of excellent quality, consistent and stable in these next months is where energy must be focused – it’s all in the planning.

There is lots to change too. Teams and colleagues are thinking about how we adjust what we do and how we do it to make things smoother and more efficient. We want the output to be equal to or greater than the energy that goes into the job. We know that the ‘to-do’ list doesn’t get smaller but making how we do it and how much of an impact it has, as successful and efficient as we can, is a critical leap towards our goals.

There is also lots of opportunity to support each other. Some fantastic training, conversations and projects have taken place so far this term – like the Black FE Leadership Group development day and the LSEC 2.0 Digital Transformation sessions; ways to help us think beyond our daily roles and the positive impact we can have in our work and practice. Finally, ways to develop our professional skills and the College business exist across the Group and I’d encourage you to look at the ever-expanding portfolio of courses on offer in our Distance Learning platform on the website. This isn’t just for external students. Staff across the Group can undertake a variety of subjects and study in their own time and use our AEB allocation to do it. The options can always be added to, so if there is a course or subject you’d like to see on there, please let us know and we can review it.

Read more online now

From September 2022 we will start delivering four T-Levels in Construction, Digital, Health and Business Administration. We will be working in partnership with the Education and Training Foundation and Association of Colleges to provide a wide range of opportunities for staff and students in these areas.

In December we successfully ran our first T-level event for internal and external learners, giving them an opportunity to learn more about the T-Levels. We will also be developing our work with the Employer Engagement team to run a series of employer focused events to increase the number of placements that will be made available for the T-Level students.