A few weeks back saw the launch of an Endowment Scheme by WAG Education Minister, Liberal Democrat Kirsty Williams. It was greeted with enthusiasm by the Welsh Arts Council.
The money pledged by WAG was the sum of £1 million and the scheme will come into operation by 2020.
BBC Wales acknowledged the importance of music in schools by showing various ensembles and children talking about its benefits.
The idea is to raise corporate and private finance to match this spending.
The actual details of the Endowment have not been explained, but the nature of such schemes is normally one of grants given to gifted children from poorer backgrounds.
This would be a way of enticing private sponsors, who would gain maximum publicity from it.
Of course, it's praiseworthy that WAG are actually doing something, however the reality of the situation is that orchestras have either disappeared in certain authorities, or are in the process of doing so.
By 2020, youth orchestras such as those in RCT and Merthyr will be so small they'll have to be called 'chamber' ones!
In RCT ( as explained in a previous blog) peripatetic music teachers were systematically forced out of their jobs by a Labour authority making drastic cuts ( effectively, doing the Tories dirty work).
Now, pupils cannot be taught by these 'peris' and parents must pay for the weekly orchestral rehearsals.
It's not an exaggeration to say that Williams' action is far too little, far too late.
It may well give a few talented individuals the opportunity to attend instrumental or singing lessons outside school, but this will not secure the orchestras' future and the continuity of both National Youth Choir and Orchestra in the long run.
My younger daughter plays in RCT Orchestra, the Four Counties and sings in the Glam Choir.
She loves the experience of playing and singing a wide variety of music, socializing, attending courses and performing in many different venues.
Both my older children played with the 'Nash' ( National Youth Orchestra) and always relished the challenge and also fun of it all.
The benefits are immense : playing as a team, the discipline of practicing and confidence gained from performing.
Among the world famous musicians produced by this system are Karl Jenkins and John Cale .
Just as surely as it has become a peripheral subject within the curriculum, so we are marginalising music in the 'Land of Song'.
If we cannot afford to finance it properly and in a sustainable way, we might as well alter the words of 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' and cut out the 'chantorion' entirely!
Sadly, in terms of poetry, education is following the self-same route.
Statistically, all that matters to school performance indicators are literacy and numeracy and these are summed up by the ludicrous testing regime begun so early.
In this context, the writing of poetry is fast becoming a yearly task ( for school Eisteddfodau ) and little else.
Apart from grand schemes based around Dylan Thomas and Roald Dahl, it's rare for writers to conduct workshops in our schools.
Doing workshops recently at CCFC stadium, I asked one Year 5 teacher whether her class had written any poetry.
'Not this year,' she replied ( i.e. from September - February), 'we've been too busy with other things.'
The kids were, as ever, very imaginative and enthusiastic, but it was soon obvious they had no experience of writing poetry and most wrote in prose, even when they rhymed.
Poetry can give the majority of children a way to express their feelings : it's short, intense and should free them from formula.
This is exactly how I began, writing about my family : brought up by my mother and with a difficult relationship with my father.
As far as our school students are concerned, that whole line 'Gwlad beirdd a chantorion' will only apply to the past.
As to the future, I am pessimistic when it comes to opportunities.
We seem to have accepted austerity as a way of life, a 'given', and not policy choice ( and one which is counter-productive).
An Endowment Scheme may sound impressive, but goes no way towards solving the urgent problems of today : the loss of peripatetic teachers and neglect of music in schools.
In reality, we are the 'Land of Attainment Targets' not ' Song'!
ATTIC MUSIC
The bird that was trapped in the attic,
one we neither saw nor heard
could have dislodged them.
All I know is, they fell and floated
down from the square opening,
white feathers in dots and lines.
We caught and collected them :
Debussy, Elgar, Saint-Saens ,
annotated for your fingering.
Each one a testament to hours
of practice ; the mirror on the landing
where you sought perfection.
The plastic bag had been tattered,
the music within musty but intact.
The bird had died or escaped.
So we put them back together
by that long, slim mirror,
feather upon feather, compiling.
One day you'll take them away
and they will fly from your bow
over the moor into the sky.
The money pledged by WAG was the sum of £1 million and the scheme will come into operation by 2020.
BBC Wales acknowledged the importance of music in schools by showing various ensembles and children talking about its benefits.
The idea is to raise corporate and private finance to match this spending.
The actual details of the Endowment have not been explained, but the nature of such schemes is normally one of grants given to gifted children from poorer backgrounds.
This would be a way of enticing private sponsors, who would gain maximum publicity from it.
Of course, it's praiseworthy that WAG are actually doing something, however the reality of the situation is that orchestras have either disappeared in certain authorities, or are in the process of doing so.
By 2020, youth orchestras such as those in RCT and Merthyr will be so small they'll have to be called 'chamber' ones!
In RCT ( as explained in a previous blog) peripatetic music teachers were systematically forced out of their jobs by a Labour authority making drastic cuts ( effectively, doing the Tories dirty work).
Now, pupils cannot be taught by these 'peris' and parents must pay for the weekly orchestral rehearsals.
It's not an exaggeration to say that Williams' action is far too little, far too late.
It may well give a few talented individuals the opportunity to attend instrumental or singing lessons outside school, but this will not secure the orchestras' future and the continuity of both National Youth Choir and Orchestra in the long run.
My younger daughter plays in RCT Orchestra, the Four Counties and sings in the Glam Choir.
She loves the experience of playing and singing a wide variety of music, socializing, attending courses and performing in many different venues.
Both my older children played with the 'Nash' ( National Youth Orchestra) and always relished the challenge and also fun of it all.
The benefits are immense : playing as a team, the discipline of practicing and confidence gained from performing.
Among the world famous musicians produced by this system are Karl Jenkins and John Cale .
Just as surely as it has become a peripheral subject within the curriculum, so we are marginalising music in the 'Land of Song'.
If we cannot afford to finance it properly and in a sustainable way, we might as well alter the words of 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau' and cut out the 'chantorion' entirely!
Sadly, in terms of poetry, education is following the self-same route.
Statistically, all that matters to school performance indicators are literacy and numeracy and these are summed up by the ludicrous testing regime begun so early.
In this context, the writing of poetry is fast becoming a yearly task ( for school Eisteddfodau ) and little else.
Apart from grand schemes based around Dylan Thomas and Roald Dahl, it's rare for writers to conduct workshops in our schools.
Doing workshops recently at CCFC stadium, I asked one Year 5 teacher whether her class had written any poetry.
'Not this year,' she replied ( i.e. from September - February), 'we've been too busy with other things.'
The kids were, as ever, very imaginative and enthusiastic, but it was soon obvious they had no experience of writing poetry and most wrote in prose, even when they rhymed.
Poetry can give the majority of children a way to express their feelings : it's short, intense and should free them from formula.
This is exactly how I began, writing about my family : brought up by my mother and with a difficult relationship with my father.
As far as our school students are concerned, that whole line 'Gwlad beirdd a chantorion' will only apply to the past.
As to the future, I am pessimistic when it comes to opportunities.
We seem to have accepted austerity as a way of life, a 'given', and not policy choice ( and one which is counter-productive).
An Endowment Scheme may sound impressive, but goes no way towards solving the urgent problems of today : the loss of peripatetic teachers and neglect of music in schools.
In reality, we are the 'Land of Attainment Targets' not ' Song'!
ATTIC MUSIC
The bird that was trapped in the attic,
one we neither saw nor heard
could have dislodged them.
All I know is, they fell and floated
down from the square opening,
white feathers in dots and lines.
We caught and collected them :
Debussy, Elgar, Saint-Saens ,
annotated for your fingering.
Each one a testament to hours
of practice ; the mirror on the landing
where you sought perfection.
The plastic bag had been tattered,
the music within musty but intact.
The bird had died or escaped.
So we put them back together
by that long, slim mirror,
feather upon feather, compiling.
One day you'll take them away
and they will fly from your bow
over the moor into the sky.
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