Music @ Tollcross
The members of the Parent Council are very
happy indeed at the focus we place on the Expressive Arts in general
but felt that I should clarify some important issues.
We have two music specialists – Ms Hartley for a day and a half per
week (English speaking) and Mrs McLuskey (Gaelic) for half a day.
They are timetabled to take classes or groups of children. In Miss
Hartley’s class the children do a lot of singing, composing and playing
of music as well as listening to and discussing a huge variety of
genres. Mrs McCluskey has groups of children playing instruments and
singing in Gaelic. Since Mrs McCluskey joined us our Gaelic choir has
consistently been judged as one of the best in the country at the
National Mod. We count ourselves very fortunate indeed to have two
specialists of such a high quality – there is never any trouble at all
in any of their classes because the children just love attending.
Clarsach : we have approximately £15,000 worth of harps and Mrs Collin
teaches here all day Thursday. The instruments have been bought by the
school itself, occasionally with the help of generous benefactors. For
many years we were the only primary school in Lothian to offer this
provision and our pupils appear as the Edinburgh Clarsach Ensemble.
Brass : we have trombones, trumpets, euphoniums, cornets and baritone
euphoniums – a dozen instruments in very good condition because we
bought most of them new about two to three years ago. Mr Jenkins
teaches brass here every Friday morning. Pupils can go on to join the
Edinburgh Schools Transitional Wind Band and sit grade exams.
Chanter : Mr Morrison is a parent volunteer who comes during his lunch
hour twice per week to teach chanter. We have around six instruments
and accompanying documentation. Mr Morrison bought a shield which goes
to the “player of the month” presented at assemblies and he produces
the most beautiful certificates for the children too. Recently he took
them all to the national piping Museum in Glasgow – trip funded by the
school
Flute : Ms Duffin is a parent who teaches flute to pupils each Friday
morning. We have five flutes and all accompanying documentation again
bought by ourselves with the advice and guidance of Ms Duffin, who has
made a timetable for herself allowing each child a significant period
of tuition time on an individual basis each Friday.
Recorders : we have around thirty five recorders and accompanying
music. Recorder is taught by specialist and by class teachers.
Ms Hartley, Mrs McCluskey, Mrs Collin and Mr Jenkins are employed by
the City of Edinburgh Council and Ms Duffin and Mr Morrison are loyal
parents who make the school the place it is through their unswerving
support of our children. The school has bought all of the instruments
and all of the accompanying music etc. We pay for all of our own
repairs – broken strings, dents, stuck valves etc.
Children are selected for tuition in brass and clarsach in a very
fluid, informal manner. We cannot offer tuition to every child in the
school so we take a great deal of care in our effort to get the
selection correct. We look for pupils with aptitude, enthusiasm and
support from home for practise and transport of instruments. Staff will
discuss individual pupils’ needs and we will also give them a screening
test which appears to the children as a game but which is assessing
their musical ear. Staff will also look at pupils’ finger and hand co
ordination as they have an initial try on a particular instrument.
This all usually happens in P5 so we can offer three solid years of
tuition. All instruments go home as we are willing to pay the cost of
accidents in return for those necessary long hours of practise. No
instrument is allocated to any one part of the school – all children
are treated equally. No child is offered any more than one instrument
and Council policy says that anyone receiving private tuition outside
school should not be offered the same instrument in school.
Both parents offering music tuition have been very happy to take
children who are keen to try and to practise. In these cases no
screening test is done but we very quickly find out who is enthusiastic
enough to give up spare time to increase musical skills. Tuition in
flute and chanter has been offered after the clarsach and brass lists
have been filled. From time to time we come across a child who may be
going through a difficult period. Very often we can lift a child
simply by offering a bit of reassurance and attention – music plays its
part here too.
We have a long tradition of music playing in Tollcross. Our children
have always given up free time in the playground to practise indoors
over the lunch period and very rarely do we have to remind them about
practising at home. We are consistently well over budget for the
Expressive Arts and there are no plans to change this policy. Nothing
would be easier than to narrow the curriculum and concentrate on
providing only the basics in education. We will not do that because we
believe that success in the arts permeates the rest of a child’s life.
In a nutshell, we have children in Tollcross who are entitled to free
food (because of lack of money in the family), who are playing
instruments worth a couple of thousand pounds each to packed audiences
in places like the Usher Hall and St Mary’s Cathedral. Their
performances are consistently praised to the rafters – in most cases
this wonderful talent would go untapped if those children did not get
the opportunity from their school.
Lastly I would add a thank you to the children who are not playing
instruments and who sit so quietly and applaud so appreciatively at all
of the Thursday morning performances. Well done, everybody!
Kenneth Neal
HEAD TEACHER
