“Wow, wow, wow!”: Music Mark Schools across the UK celebrate nominations for 2021/22

The Autumn Term is well underway and over 2,000 schools from across the UK have already signed up for their free year of membership through our Music Mark Schools programme.

Music Mark is delighted that so many schools have been able to take advantage of membership this year thanks to our newly simplified nominations process. Music Hubs and Services across the UK are invited to nominate those who they believe to have shown a commitment to music to join our community of music educators and become an official ‘Music Mark School’ for the duration of the academic year. This year, in respect of the challenges faced by many organisations due to the pandemic, we have removed the cost to music hubs and services so that they can nominate schools free of charge and as a result hope to open up Music Mark membership to thousands of other schools.

Schools who sign up are able to celebrate the accolade by displaying a certificate and using our exclusive school’s logo. A number of schools have taken to Twitter and social media to share their excitement at joining the UK Association for Music Education. Don’t forget to tag us @musicmarkuk so we can congratulate you again!

Congratulations, you really deserve it, you are amazing and give so much to our children

— Penny (@PennyJEM) October 11, 2021

Being nominated to become a Music Mark School can mean different things depending on the local context, with some schools further along their musical journey than others. Whilst some schools may have an active music department with a varied curriculum and multiple ensembles, others may just be beginning to grow their musical offering. However, the common factor linking all Music Mark Schools is a commitment to providing a high-quality music education for all children and young people, and we believe this is certainly something worth celebrating!

Wow, wow, wow, we have been awarded the Music Mark for our commitment to providing a high quality music curriculum for all. pic.twitter.com/ZIFemMFi3A

— Gagle Brook Primary School (@GagleBrookPS) September 28, 2021

St Mary’s Bryanston Square C E Primary School, was recently nominated by Tri-borough Music Hub. Their Deputy Head Teacher, Sasha Marius-Beeko, says, ‘Thanks for our school being nominated as a Music Mark School, this is greatly appreciated, and accepted. It is wonderful to be partnered with the Tri-borough Music Hub and Music Mark, and we at St Mary’s really value all that the partnership brings.’

Likewise, for the music hubs and services our Music Mark Schools programme encourages school engagement and provides an opportunity to build on partnerships.

Stuart Whatmore, head of Tri-borough Music Hub, says, ‘School engagement is one of our main priorities as a Music Education Hub for the single reason that this is where the majority of children and young people will engage in educational learning, and as such have a statutory right to music education within the curriculum. The Music Mark School membership programme is a fantastic way of offering schools an additional package of rich musical opportunities that links them in with national music education practice.’

@KNGSlife is delighted to have been given the privileged position of becoming a Music Mark School! This is a real honour, showing our commitment to providing high quality music education within our school community. Well done Mr Gell & the Music Dept! @musicmarkuk #opportunities pic.twitter.com/REB7O00tQk

— KingsNortonGirlsSch (@KNGSlife) October 1, 2021

As well as celebrating partnerships old and new between hubs and schools, joining Music Mark has numerous practical benefits. Upon becoming a Music Mark School, teachers and staff can access our wealth of member-only resources including lesson plans, risk assessment templates, and COVID-19 guidance. Music Mark Schools are also invited to attend our member-only events, many of which are free or discounted, such as our CPD days and Annual Conference which this year is themed around technology in music education.

Our recent Member Webinar, An Update from Ofsted, was one such event well-attended by Music Mark Schools, with hundreds of teachers and staff joining to hear Mark Phillips HMI, Ofsted’s Lead for Music, discuss music in the context of the Education Inspection Framework. Music Mark membership means that any schools who missed the webinar will be able to access a recording of the session on our website.

Congratulations to the Music department at Cronton Sixth Form College who have been nominated by Accent Music Education Hub to become a @musicmarkuk school for 2021/2022.

For the full story, click here: https://t.co/gaHa4IJou7

— Cronton College (@crontoncoll) October 5, 2021

At Accent Music Education Hub in Warrington, Music Education Commissioner Janice Pounds said ‘Accent MEH was delighted to be able to invite all schools to sign up for Music Mark membership, which resulted in a quarter of schools initially taking up the offer. For us, this signals a real commitment from schools as they promote their work in music education by connecting with Music Mark, through access to excellent resources, guidance and CPD.’

Music Mark School nominations are currently open for Hubs and Services to participate in.  If you would like to find out more about the process, please do get in touch.