MUSIC AND THE ARTS MATTER!

Music and the arts are a central part of the human experience and young people cannot participate or understand our history without engaging in music and the arts... 

My experiences in York and Leeds, and working with some brilliant colleagues, musicians and artists, have shown me that music and the arts provide languages for shaping and expressing our understandings and can engage diverse learners and provide them with opportunities to share what they know. They also help develop capacities and attitudes central to learning and to life and work and help develop creativity, imagination and empathy. To work in the arts, young people are required to think critically, pose problems and make decisions, things that lie at the heart of all learning. Students who participate regularly in the arts develop self-confidence, self-discipline and self-esteem and come to understand what it means to achieve high standards and to work as part of a team.

And of course the arts bring us joy and bring joy to learning and make schools happier and more vibrant and exciting places. What would our lives be like without music and the arts?