KS3/4KS5 Transition from 3 to Key Stage 4

John Kelleher by John Kelleher is a freelance education consultant specialising in For any school teacher, the word ‘transition’ instantly conjures up an image of 11-year-olds looking anxious music and music about their first days of . This time-honoured rite of passage is, quite correctly, assigned a technology. He provides advice, high priority by schools so as to ensure that the move from to is as smooth as possible, training and and that natural anxieties are at least mixed in with a healthy dose of excitement about new challenges. resources for music teachers. There is, however, another transition that has a significant impact on our pupils: the move from Key Stage Before moving into consultancy work, 3 to Key Stage 4. With the vast majority of pupils staying in the same school, it’s easy for us to overlook the John was part of the difficulties that teenagers face during these tumultuous few months. At the very least, it’s tempting to see it as a senior leadership problem for the head of year and his/her team of form tutors who invariably deal with the fallout of young people team and director of music at a London suddenly having to cope with a set of examinations that have the potential to determine the path they take for secondary school. the rest of their lives. While the humble music teacher cannot resolve all the issues, there’s a lot we can do to minimise the stress caused by KS3-4 transition in our subject area, and even to make our music departments feel like a ‘safe zone’ during the process.

Taking the time to make music KS3-4 transition a less stressful experience for our pupils benefits the music department as well as the pupils. Good transition can boost the number of pupils who take your subject at both KS4 and KS5, and can make your classroom environment a much more pleasant place. This resource seeks to explore the ways in which you can best prepare your pupils for the transition, so that you can then guide them through the process in a way that is both beneficial to their well-being and entirely musical in its nature.

Comparing Key Stage 3 with Key Stage 4

To plan and deliver an effective KS3-4 transition, it’s vital to consider the different roles that your KS3 plays in the life of the school, and how they balance with the experience that pupils need if they are to succeed at the end of Year 11. This balancing act involves a paradoxical mix of needing to design a Scheme of Work that serves the needs of those who do and don’t take music as an exam subject, while also ensuring that you provide an experience that makes pupils want to choose your subject. What follows may seem like a contradictory account of the role of each key stage, but it is important for us to consider many different perspectives if we are to create an effective transition alongside Schemes of Work that provide value at every level of study.

What is the purpose of your Key Stage 3?

I have lost count of the number of meetings I’ve attended where someone has declared that a good KS3 is one that prepares pupils for KS4. I can see the reasoning behind such a statement and I would certainly support it for English and mathematics: these are subjects where pupils simply have no choice but to study the subject throughout their entire secondary-school career. When dealing with an options subject, however, the claim seems less convincing. This is especially the case when teaching a subject with relatively low take-up numbers. With GCSE music being taken by just 7% of all pupils, is it appropriate for your KS3 SoW to focus on preparation for KS4? Should 93% of learners be studying a subject designed to prepare them for a course that they will never take?

Considering this statistic, at least two questions present themselves: „„ Does my KS3 make pupils want to study the subject further? „„ Have I designed a KS3 that has value beyond preparation for KS4?

Whenever I consider these questions, I always find myself at the counterintuitive conclusion that designing a KS3 that proves valuable to the 93% will probably increase the number of pupils who choose to study music at KS4. Designing your KS3 SoW in such a way that pupils see a wider value to the subject may well get learners

1 Music Teacher June 2015 so hooked on your lessons that they defy the odds and grant you more than one class of music students at KS4. Taking such a perspective actually amplifies the need for a KS3-4 transition since you have jettisoned the idea of a KS3 designed purely around GCSE preparation.

How do you deliver Key Stage 4?

The next natural step is to reflect on the way you deliver your KS4 SoW. If the first three years in your music lessons have centred around practical music making with an emphasis on aural learning, then pupils are quite entitled to feel surprised and even misled if their experiences of GCSE music involve sitting around a table and analysing printed music. KS3 may not be preparation for KS4, but it is the only experience of classroom music Previous resources from Music making that pupils have to make their options choices. Teacher magazine have explored Ask yourself what teaching strategies you use at each key stage and what proportion of time is spent on each. how classroom workshopping With the inclusion of written examinations in both GCSE and BTEC Music, it’s more than likely you will have can be used to more ‘direct instruction’ at KS4, but be brutally honest with yourself about whether or not this is a necessity or explore Edexcel is simply a teaching preference (rather than a learning preference). Even with the set works in Edexcel’s GCSE set works such course, the exam board still highlights that the primary method of learning is expected to be auditory rather as ‘Something’s Coming’ (January than analysis of printed score. Does your teaching of the listening and appraising paper need to make more 2014) and ‘And the use of practical activities such as classroom workshopping? Glory of the Lord’ (June 2014). Practical work at KS4 is likely to be more familiar to pupils at the start of the course and can have a very positive impact on their familiarity with the pieces studied. There’s also the added bonus of this giving pupils wider experience of performing, leading to improved marks in the performing unit.

Selling your subject

‘Selling your subject’ seems to be a popular phrase when it comes to the annual ritual of options evening. The idea is presumably that the combination of a pamphlet, a nice display and a chat in a crowded room will suddenly prompt pupils to change their opinion of all subjects and set them on a previously unconsidered career path. While there’s a clear benefit to options evening (communicating with parents about the genuine details of the course rather than second-hand information from their children or distant memories of their own time at school), selling the subject has a lot more to do with the work you complete each day. The presence of music throughout the school and the way in which current KS4 (and above) music students behave will have a much stronger impact. Not only does this help with recruitment, but it also helps the experience of moving from KS3 to KS4 less daunting and more exciting.

Giving music students an identity

One of the first things to look at is the way in which music students view themselves. You want to tread a fine line between two extremes: a sense of being special because you study music versus a clique culture that outsiders won’t want to become a part of.

The right amount of feeling special will give you pupils who keenly advertise the benefits of studying music to their peers and younger year groups. They will give freely of their time to help at break, lunch and after school. They will wear their musicianship with pride.

Too much of feeling special and you run the risk of creating the impression that only a certain type of person is capable of being a musician. These pupils will patronise their peers for not having had the same opportunities. They will pass judgement on the ability of others to study music without fully understanding the learning

Music Teacher June 2015 2 process. At worst, they will nurture an atmosphere that causes interested youngsters to turn their backs on a subject that they may well have loved.

Find a balance of responsibilities and privileges that makes your pupils feel special but keeps their feet on the ground. Not only will this ensure that you attract more pupils to your subject but it will also make sure that your Year 11s are on hand to ease the transition for the Year 10s.

Make your KS4 musicians visible and involve KS3

In previous Music Teacher resources, we’ve discussed the academic benefits of routine performances throughout the school. Not only do they improve the quality of performances and pupils’ final grades, but they also put music at the heart of the school. Ensure that your KS4 music students are regularly involved in assembly performances, pop-up music events and a variety of other high-profile activities. Once this culture is secure, be sure to include KS3 musicians. Dedicate some assembly performances to celebrating younger musicians and expand on this by employing KS4 musicians as accompanists or sound engineers.

The taste of success in the limelight will encourage more pupils to study music, and the glimpse into the routine expectations of a KS4 musician will ease the transition process.

Ensure that your music department includes a social area

I’m a big believer that classrooms and practice rooms should be areas dedicated to music making. Finding pupils using a precious lunchtime practice slot as a social gathering is a waste of precious resources and ensures that a keen young musician misses out on an opportunity. A social space, however, has huge value in terms of allowing pupils to form new ensembles, learn from more experienced musicians or just to hear some of the (hopefully) fantastic music being learned in the school.

A social space doesn’t have to be huge. If you have a foyer, could there be space for a desk and chairs? Is the corridor wide enough for a noticeboard and even a sofa? Get the social space of your department right and you’ll have a space where nervous new KS4 musicians can go for social and emotional support from people going through the same thing or from those who recently survived it.

A transition project

Both Musical Bridges and Musical Futures have developed some very effective resources for primary- secondary transition through the use of a musical transition project. The Musical Futures transition project, for example, saw feeder schools teach Iggy Pop’s ‘The Passenger’ to their pupils at the end of Year 6, and for this work to be expanded upon once they joined their secondary schools in Year 7. The idea was that all pupils arrived at secondary school having recently learnt to play the same song. This allowed the secondary music teachers to use this as a bonding experience where pupils could see each other on an even footing.

One of the Musical Bridges approaches used a similar concept, this time centred around five tracks but with the same intention of giving the incoming Year 7s a shared musical experience through which to smooth their transition.

A similar approach can be employed with your KS3-4 transition. The following four ideas will cater for transition projects designed around: „„ Performance „„ Composition and Arrangement „„ Music business

Listening and Appraising is conspicuous by its absence from this list but, as you will see, each project incorporates this core skill.

3 Music Teacher June 2015 Performance project For the purposes of this resource, we are Drawing heavily on the work of the Musical Futures and Musical Bridges transition projects, this idea centres assuming that KS3 on pupils learning how to play a specific piece of music in the last unit of Year 9 and then building upon this runs until the end of Year 9. For schools in the first unit of Year 10. with a three-year Key Stage 4, this will Selecting the piece need to be adjusted accordingly. To get the most out of this project, it works well to make sure that the piece you choose meets the following criteria: „„ It can be realised as an ensemble performance. „„ A score or reference recording can be provided and is representative of all the parts in the ensemble. „„ The parts can be realised on a variety of different instruments.

You may find that this works best when you create the score and reference recordings yourself, as this will allow you to create a series of rehearsal tracks, which pupils can make use of when learning the piece. If you were doing a rock song, for example, then you might want to create rehearsal tracks that include the following: „„ A full mix „„ All instruments except voice „„ Only voice Creating ‘stem tracks’ such as „„ All instruments except guitar these can easily „„ Only guitar be done using a „„ All instruments except bass sequencer and a combination of „„ Only bass the mute and solo „„ All instruments except drums buttons for each „„ Only drums channel.

The Year 9 Unit In Year 9, pupils should work in groups learning how to play their part before performing the piece as a whole- class ensemble. You may want to organise your unit in the following manner:

Lessons 1 & 2 Split into groups. All pupils in that group learn to play the same part. At this time of year, Listening to the full mix and the ‘only’ version of their part. it’s likely that you will Learning to play their part through a combination of aural learning and printed know which pupils music. have selected music as one of their KS4 Lesson 3 Playing their part along to the ‘except’ version of the recording. options. Be sure to Helping each other to identify where they could improve accuracy, ensemble split these pupils skills, etc. between parts as Identifying where they will include expressive/interpretive features and evenly as possible learning to realise this together. throughout the year Lesson 4 Whole-class rehearsal of the piece. group so that your new Year 10 class Adjusting the expressive/interpretive features to ensure a stylistically arrives with a good convincing performance. balance of the parts Lesson 5 A final performance and recording of the whole-class performance. already learnt.

You may also want to include a follow-up event where each of the Year 9 music classes performs to the rest of the year group. Not only could an event like this be a lot of fun, but it will also ensure that all of your incoming Year 10 musicians have already performed in front of each other at least once, regardless of the class they were in throughout Key Stage 3.

Music Teacher June 2015 4 The Year 10 Unit When it comes to starting the Key Stage 4 course, it’s time to take away the safety net of having whole groups of pupils playing the same part. This safety-in-numbers is great reassurance for less confident pupils at the end of Year 9, but it also provides an opportunity to introduce the impact of doubling on the difficulty rating of a performance piece at GCSE. Your Year 10 unit could, therefore, work as follows:

Lesson 1 Split into groups with one pupil per part. Listening to the reference recording as a reminder of the piece. Learning to play the piece in time with each other. Lesson 2 Agreeing on the expressive/interpretative features of their group’s performance and exploring how this can be realised. Refining their performance. Lesson 3 Each group performs to the rest of the class. Groups provide feedback based on course mark scheme. Lesson 4 Groups rehearse the piece in response to the feedback. Lesson 5 Second performance to the rest of the class. Groups mark each other using the course mark scheme.

This unit builds upon the work pupils completed in Year 9 by expecting them to take sole responsibility for their part and to improve their performance in response to feedback that is based on the exam board’s mark scheme. This ensures the necessary jump in expectations that should accompany a move between key stages but does so using familiar music. It also ensures that the mark scheme isn’t too intimidating since they’re not given a mark for the first performance – just feedback on strengths and areas for development. Having this ‘dry run’ means that they have an understanding of the marks that are achievable for them in the final performance, which manages expectations while also encouraging them to push themselves.

Composition and arrangement project

Whereas the performance project expects pupils to take gradually more responsibility for their performance role, the composition project requires them to adapt and adjust their ideas for differing resources.

The Year 9 Unit In this unit, pupils will be expected to compose a piece of music in response to a brief. You may want to set the brief in such a way that it links into your exam board’s composition requirements. For example, teachers delivering Edexcel GCSE music may want to set a brief expecting pupils to make use of a musical feature from one of the set works, whereas teachers delivering the OCR specification may choose to set a dance music brief.

In the first lesson, pupils are split into groups. In order for the Year 10 unit to work most effectively, try to ensure that each group only has one KS4 music candidate.

Lesson 1 Provide pupils with the brief. Listen to pieces of music that would meet the brief – draw out key features. Split into groups. Groups experiment with initial ideas. Lesson 2 Groups start to develop initial ideas. Start to structure pieces to achieve effective contrast. Lesson 3 Groups rehearse the performance of their pieces and adapt ideas as necessary for instruments/resources available. Teacher listens to all pieces and provides feedback. Lesson 4 Groups refine their pieces in response to teacher’s feedback. Pupils make notes about their pieces and notate/annotate their part. Lesson 5 Groups perform to each other for a final recording.

Note that, for the Year 10 unit to work, it is vital that the teacher collects and stores all of the pupils’ scores and/or annotations. You will also want to keep hold of the recordings.

5 Music Teacher June 2015 As with the performance unit, it would be particularly satisfying if such a project was followed by an event where all groups get to perform their pieces to a larger audience such as at a concert or even just an extended assembly.

The Year 10 Unit At the start of Key Stage 4, the emphasis shifts from composition to arranging skills. Pupils have the notation (or annotations) created by their peers at the end of Year 9 and the memory of having performed the piece as part of a group. This time, however, they need to arrange the piece to suit the instruments/resources that are available to them.

The core idea is that pupils work with a new group to create a new arrangement of the composition that they created as part of a group in Year 9. They will need to adapt the piece to suit the instruments and the ability of performers. There’s also a distinct possibility that they will need to find ways of realising the pieces using significantly fewer pupils than before (especially if you chose to split pupils into pairs).

The reason that this unit works so well is that it combines the composing skills with the demands of performing someone else’s composition. This should improve pupils’ understanding of the capabilities of various instruments while also enabling them to learn how to adjust their performance in response to the composer’s feedback.

In this unit, pupils will find themselves performing two or more compositions (their own and at least one other pupil’s piece) as part of an ensemble. Quite how you split up the groups for this unit will depend on the number of pupils in the class. In small classes, you might want all pupils to perform all compositions. Large classes might work with each pupil realising their pieces using technology. If you’ve got a medium-sized class, then perhaps have pupils working in pairs.

If not using technology, then you can also use this as an opportunity to expose pupils to the rehearsing and directing pathway through your performance units.

Assuming that you choose to split the class into pairs, then you may wish to organise the unit as follows:

Lesson 1 Split into groups into pairs. Pupils listen to the compositions that they will be expected to realise while looking at the notation available. Pairs discuss how they will use their time to realise each other’s pieces. Lesson 2 Pupils work to realise piece 1. Lesson 3 Pupils record piece 1. Lesson 4 Pupils work to realise piece 2. Lesson 5 Pupils record piece 2.

Obviously, if you include additional pupils in the groups, then you will need to allow for more time to realise and record the increased number of pieces.

Since the outcome of this project is likely to be a sizeable number of pupil compositions, it’s worth exploring how this can be turned into a celebration of their work. Perhaps the recordings could be played as pupils come into assembly or as background music at parents’ evening?

Music industry project

Depending on the units chosen for the BTEC First in Music, it’s possible that the performance or composition projects would work as effective transitions. That said, considering that the music industry exam is now compulsory, having a transition project centred on this area of study ensures that all learners will benefit. If you are delivering RSL Music Practitioner and teach any of the business units, then this project would also work well for you.

Music Teacher June 2015 6 Since the Unit 1 outline spans quite a wide remit, it makes sense to narrow down the transition project to a more manageable number of ideas. As a result, the focus of this unit is on learning aim B (understand job roles in the music industry) and, more specifically, looks at the job roles on page 44 of the unit specification. They are: „„ Musician „„ Composer „„ Musical Director „„ Live Sound Technician „„ Roadie „„ Instrumental Support

This limited number of roles ensures that there is an emphasis on concerts, which helps to lend a structure to the two units.

The Year 9 Unit In Year 9, the aim of this unit is to create a class concert, which will be performed to a different class. If your timetable has two music lessons at the same time, then scheduling this concert should be straightforward. Failing that, you will need to liaise with your senior leadership team to find a suitable class to be taken off timetable for the event. If the experience itself isn’t enough to sway your SLT, then try selling it as a logistics solution. Perhaps it could alleviate cover requirements for that day? Is there a school trip that day with some pupils left behind? Coming to your line manager with a ready-made solution for one of their problems might just win you a few brownie points too!

When splitting the class into groups, you will want to do so in a manner that makes sense for a concert. Avoid equal group sizes and ensure that you have small numbers of musical directors, technicians, roadies and instrumental support. You will need a good number of performers and composers for this to work.

You will also want to consider the pupils who you know are staying on to take music in Key Stage 4. Ensure that there’s at least one incoming KS4 pupil in each job role across the year group so as to facilitate the Year 10 unit.

Lesson 1 Split the class into groups – one for each of the six roles. Set date and time for the concert and lead a class discussion to plan the event. Lesson 2 Rehearsals, preparations, technical training, instrument training, etc take place. Lesson 3 Rehearsals, preparations, technical training, instrument training, etc take place. Lesson 4 Video-recorded dress rehearsal followed by class discussion about areas for improvement. Lesson 5 Performance.

If it happens that any of the concert lessons would take place on the primary-secondary transition day, then why not liaise with your transition co-ordinator so that the concert is to the Year 6 pupils? This would send a great message to the younger pupils, showing them that music is part of the lifeblood of your school.

The Year 10 Unit Having had the experience of putting on a concert once, the pupils who opt to take music at KS4 will be more confident about what’s involved in organising a live performance. As a result, expectations can be raised and they can be given a higher-profile event to organise. This unit requires pupils to put on an evening concert in the school hall, inviting parents and staff in the first few weeks of the academic year. While BTECs are often associated with putting on performances, having one this early on sends a great message to pupils about your expectations and shows the wider school community the fantastic work that you’ve already completed.

7 Music Teacher June 2015 Lesson 1 Split the class into groups – maintaining the role that they had as Year 9s wherever possible. Lead a class discussion outlining the aims of the concert. Set a homework to advertise the concert to parents/teachers. Lesson 2 Rehearsals, preparations, technical training, instrument training, etc take place. Continue with advertising. Lesson 3 Rehearsals, preparations, technical training, instrument training, etc take place. Prepare the venue for the concert. Lesson 4 Video-recorded dress rehearsal followed by class discussion about areas for improvement. Lesson 5 Performance.

Be sure to get a good-quality recording of the performance so that it can be used to inform any similar work in future. This is especially good for any pupils who take the performance unit, as you can use it to show them where they need to improve in future.

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