Music Tuition for All
Last academic year, 103 students benefited from subsidised or free 1:1 Music Tuition made possible by the Intrepidus Trust. 40 per cent of these young people were eligible for Free School Meals and therefore unlikely to have been able to afford music tuition if not for subsidy. 83% of students are working towards a grade and 78% felt they had made significant progress with their practice this year.
Students received 30 lessons in the academic year with each lesson scheduled for 30 minutes, and KAA was able to employ 7 tutors working freelance or via the Tri Borough Music Hub teaching guitar, drum kit, singing, piano, violin, flute, trumpet, saxophone or clarinet.
37% were eligible for Free School Meals
15% were identified as having SEN (Special Educational Needs)
32% spoke English as an Additional Language
60% from a Black or Minority Ethnicbackground
Our key aims continued to be:
To increase the number of students able to learn an instrument - this year there was a 25% increase in the number of students taking lessons, and importantly this number was sustained throughout the year with students retaining their commitment or being quickly supported if outside issues threatened to derail their ability to stay on schedule. Consequently, attendance is nearly 100% and any lessons missed are due to absence through illness.
To increase the cohort sizes taking Music for GCSE and A’ Level and taking grades - 83% of students are working towards a grade, and in 2022-23, we would like half of all students in music tuition to be taking GCSE Music or A-level.
Importantly, we collected a range of student voices to assess how they perceive the 1:1 music lessons currently offered. We were extremely pleased that:
● over 90% rated their lessons as either excellent or very good;
● Over 80% believed they had made either excellent or very good progress with 17% believing they had made good progress;
● Individual comments included: ‘lessons are amazing’, ‘great fun learning new pieces of music’, ‘helped me progress in my technique’.
We also encourage all students in tuition to sign up to one of the many ensembles at the school - two of which have been funded with donations to the Intrepidus Trust. They are the glee-style ‘Upper Voices Choir’ and the KAA Band - read more about these ensembles here.