New Apprenticeship for Music Educator roles is approved

The Level 5 Apprenticeship ‘Specialist Teaching Assistant’, suitable for music educators, has been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE). Alison Corten (Edsential) and Lynne Allsopp share more details about the apprenticeship.

After many months of working to develop a level 5 apprenticeship which can be used for our Music Educator roles, it will be ready to use in the new year. This is a fantastic step forward.

The apprenticeship is called Specialist Teaching Assistant and covers a range of key roles within the education workforce which do not use the phrase ‘teaching assistant’ in their job title and yet this apprenticeship will be appropriate in enabling high-quality specialist training for those roles and that’s where our Music Educator fits.

It has core elements which any Music Educator is required to know about and demonstrate and then our specific music requirements can be delivered under the curriculum specialist option. Clearly some of the knowledge, skills and behaviours in this option can be interpreted for other roles such as dance or sport.

Each apprentice will benefit from five core areas and will select one of three specialisms.

Core Themes:

• Advancing learning
• Planning and assessment
• Communication
• Professionalism
• Regulation and guidance

Specialist Themes (select one):

• Specialist Educational Needs and Disabilities
• Social and emotional well-being
• Curriculum provision

As a consequence of this apprenticeship, Music Educators will:

• become knowledgeable practitioners who can advance learning in an informed and enabling manner within their specialist area, leading others through their thoughtful practices.
• be able to adapt practices in a principled way.
• be capable communicators interacting with learners, parents, professionals, colleagues and agencies to the support and advocate for the quality of learning.
• benefit from exploring the productive connection between research, key concepts and systematic knowledge so as to expand and enrich their approaches to working with children and young people.
• develop others by working alongside them directly with children and young people.

The detailed knowledge skills and behaviours (KSBs), together with the duties and end-point assessment (EPA) plan can be found on the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education’s (IfATE) website. When looking at our Standard on the website, use the filter option to see the knowledge, skills and behaviours agreed for the curriculum specialist teaching assistant. You’ll also notice that there is a caveat to it being ready to use i.e. the approval of an end-point assessment organisation. This process is in hand and the restriction will soon be removed. Find out more about the apprenticeship here.

With an approved funding band of up to £12,000, eligible employers will now be able to use their levy towards the training costs.

On behalf of many music services I have been part of this trailblazer group to see if this apprenticeship standard would work for us in terms of our Music Educator roles. At first I was sceptical but as our work progressed and we shaped the requirements in a collaborative way, I could see how our specific music requirements could be accommodated in the core and specialist curriculum provision option. It will be key to ensure our off-the job training delivery fits our context. This is a great step forward for our sector. Alison Corten, Music Services Leader, Edsential

For those attending the Music Mark Conference on Sustainability in Music Education, there will be opportunities to discuss this further in a one-to-one advice sessions with Gary Griffiths on Tuesday 19^th November. Delegates should have received information on how to book advice sessions via email, but please get in touch at info@musicmark.org.uk if you have any questions.