Pop in Partnership

A new nationwide study on how reimagining Rock & Pop learning can help Music Hubs deliver the National Plan for Music Education

By Steve Sammut

Here at The Rock & Pop Foundation we have been on a mission to help pupils unlock their musical potential since 1995. We are really proud of our unique rock and pop teaching materials and approach which we have been developing and refining for 30 years, and we now want to see how these could be used to support Music Hubs with delivering their Five Strategic Functions from the National Plan for Music Education.

Through this action research project we want to identify whether our materials and approach can be used by Music Hubs to deliver the same key benefits to them that we have seen across our own organisation. If that proves to be the case, we hope that these materials can then be rolled out to Music Hubs nationwide as our way of contributing towards the delivery of the National Plan for Music Education.

The key benefits that we have seen from these materials and approach in our own organisation are outlined below, mapped against the Five Strategic Functions from the NPME.

Partnership: The success of our materials and approach in recruiting and retaining pupils has meant that we have developed longstanding partnerships with schools and become a significant and lasting part of the local infrastructure for high-quality music education and music-making.

Schools: These materials have enabled us to expand the size of our teaching groups, allowing us to support schools with a low-cost but high-quality specialist tuition offer This has helped the schools with which we work provide a broader range of progression routes and musical experiences for all pupils. Schools have responded well to our system of having one teacher cover all three instruments, as it helps them work round limitations in timetabling and room availability, and reduces the need for waiting lists. Consistently positive feedback from pupils and parents has meant we have been able to establish expanding and enduring relationships with schools, becoming firmly embedded in the musical life of the schools over many years.

Progression & musical development: The use of these materials has ensured that our teachers can make efficient use of every minute of lesson time, maximising the amount of learning taking place and accelerating progress even when delivering group lessons of only 20-30 minutes in length. Each lesson is also available as a video lesson which ensures that no pupil falls behind, even when absent from school. The video materials have also encouraged regular practice & parental involvement in pupils’ learning. Our teachers have found that by utilising the videos they are able to flip the learning, allowing them to adopt a more facilitating, coaching style of teaching, enabling them to deal with larger groups more effectively. This style of teaching is more authentic for the rock & pop music styles, mirroring what happens in the rehearsal room. Pupils respond well to this, resulting in better retention rates. This means more pupils studying for longer, reaching higher standards, being better prepared for graded examinations, and therefore able to access further and higher education opportunities and careers within the industry.

Inclusion: The teaching approach promoted by our materials makes it much easier to teach in larger groups, meaning that costs to parents can be kept low without compromising on quality of learning or on progress made. This makes rock & pop instrumental lessons more accessible to pupils from low socio-economic backgrounds. Because the materials are designed to be taught by teachers regardless of instrumental specialism, we have been able to reach schools in rural locations who might only have need of an hour or so of teaching on each instrument, as we can send one teacher to cover all the instruments, ensuring that geographic location is no barrier to participation. The materials are available in formats that are accessible to all pupils, and are flexible and adaptable to cater for individual pupils’ needs, making them particularly suitable for use with pupils with SEND.

Sustainability: The use of these materials within our own organisation has allowed us to create a dynamic and well-trained workforce who are able to teach multiple rock & pop instruments regardless of their own instrumental specialism. This has enabled us to limit the need for waiting lists, and take on more pupils overall, ensuring financial stability and allowing us to plan more strategically. Operationally, it has been beneficial in simplifying cover arrangements, meaning that income is rarely lost as we are almost always able to provide a suitable cover teacher, who will know straight away what needs to be taught that week as the approach is standardised across all teachers. This approach has also helped us to limit our environmental impact by reducing C02 emissions associated with transporting teachers to schools, since we are now sending one teacher into each school for a longer session, rather than having multiple teachers make multiple journeys for shorter sessions each day.

We now want to see if these benefits can be replicated nationwide and are looking for music hubs to be involved in trialling the materials and approach with their own pupils.

We are looking for music hubs or music services who currently teach contemporary guitar, drums and keys to KS2 pupils in either small group, 1-2-1 or whole class settings. The preliminary meetings and training for the project will take place during the Summer Term 2025, ready for an Autumn Term start, when teachers will use the materials with at least one beginner group for a 10 week period.

We hope to find out what impact the use of the materials have on teaching and learning, and on wider organisational operation. Primarily we want to see what impact there is on pupil progress, engagement, and motivation. We also want to find out how teachers feel the materials have impacted the effectiveness, quality, and style of their teaching. On an organisational level, we hope to discover whether music hubs feel adopting these materials will be of benefit to them in terms of delivering the Five Strategic Functions outlined in the NPME.

At the end of the initial 10 week project, there will be the option for hubs to express an interest in continuing by rolling the initial materials out to more pupils, and introducing the next phase of materials to the pupils who have participated in the study. This will allow us to research the longer-term impact of the approach in terms of the Five Strategic Functions.

If your music hub is interested in participating in this research, please contact our independent researchers Music Education Solutions by email at admin@musiceducationsolutions.co.uk or by phone on 0330 133 4123 for further details.