Colleagues in Scotland may be feeling hard done by, receiving their Back-to-School issue of MT weeks after re-entering the classroom or re-starting instrumental lessons. Fear not, as this joint Musicals and Back-to-School themed issue is a bumper 100-page magazine, so there's plenty to get your teeth stuck into regardless of when you're picking this up.
If you're embarking on your first year as an ECT this September (or know someone who is), p.45 will offer some words of wisdom from a teacher who was in your position only last year. Having been scarred by an unsuccessful NYO audition in her youth, Claire Jackson faces her demons to find out how the National Youth Orchestra is adapting to best serve today's teenagers; you'll read how AI is being used to facilitate a more flexible kind of music exam; and Bob Chilcott discusses his new musical drama, Birdland, which was premiered as a collaboration between a secondary school, a music hub, and a group of local primary schools.
This bumper issue also includes extensive coverage of the National Plan for Music Education, including a range of opinion pieces, and what we hope will be an invaluable guide to writing a school Music Development Plan. The guide includes a freely downloadable and editable template, which anyone, including non-subscribers, can access via our website. A 15-minute ‘explainer’ Q&A with Karen Marshall, who wrote the guide, is also available to watch online.
Elsewhere, you'll find advice on working with your drama department when staging a production, Vaughan Williams resources, Music House for Children's first mental health and wellbeing column, an interview with Sound Connections’ Philip Flood, and Q&As with the MU's Naomi Pohl and Arts Council England's Hannah Fouracre.
If you're hoping to submit a nomination for next year's Music & Drama Education Awards, you've got until 12 September to complete the application. I have no doubt that the judging process will be as difficult as ever! The winners will be revealed at a ceremony on 23 February 2023, the first night of the Music & Drama Education Expo. Free registration for Expo – a two-day conference for all music and drama educators at the Business Design Centre in London – opens on 1 September.
The first wave of exam results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland are landing as we go to press, so more on those in the October issue and online. I hope you've managed to have a restful summer and are feeling reenergised as you head into a new year, armed with your trusty copy of MT to keep you topped up with inspiration.
