Exchanging Notes is a four-year action research programme pioneering ten new partnerships between schools and music education providers who normally work in out-of-school settings. Youth Music has invested £1.2m in the project which aims to establish if this collaborative approach could bring additional benefits for young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion.

    Exchanging Notes aims to establish effective models of partnership working between schools and specialist music education providers in order to:

    • Enable young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or 
educational exclusion to achieve the best musical, educational and wider outcomes
    • Promote a collective understanding of high-quality music education, stimulating fresh thinking in music and education practice.

    The work delivered over 4 years through Exchanging Notes is subject to an independent longitudinal evaluation, coordinated and funded by Youth Music. The evaluation will be conducted using an ‘action research’ methodology by Birmingham City University, whereby projects will be supported to reflect on and improve their practice throughout the duration of the work.

    SoCo Music Project are 1 of 10 organisations across the country to have been awarded funding through Exchanging Notes. Through our Exchanging Notes project we are working in partnership with two settings, Rosewood Free School, a school for children and young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities and Woodlands Community College, with their Inclusion Unit and LINK group. The challenges that young people face in these two settings are very different in nature and require tailored approaches to music engagement. Young people at Rosewood Free School have very complex needs and often face life limiting/threatening conditions, whilst young people at Woodlands face a number of challenges and issues in their everyday lives: non-attendance, problems at school, unstable home environments, offending peers, low self-esteem etc. and we aim to use music as a springboard for positive engagement and to improve emotional well-being.

    What have we achieved in the First Year of Exchanging Notes?

    We have developed activities in-school time, tailored and designed specifically to the needs and interests of our participants in collaboration with teaching and support staff. An extremely important component of the delivery of our music-making activities has been around providing creative environments and spaces. A large part of our engagement throughout has involved exploration and discussion, breaking down barriers to participation, improving confidence over time and creating a safe and supportive environment for the young people to take creative risks and express themselves through music.

    Throughout our programme of work we have adopted a reflective approach through action learning, supported by observations around engagement and progression between class/support staff and music leaders. It has been vital to get to know the settings and the staff so that we can develop new skills, techniques and creative ideas that have paved the way for identifying some exciting CPD opportunities and music-making activities that will support us to achieve our outcomes. As our first year of Exchanging Notes has evolved, we have been developing resources and activity sheets for staff that support new teaching models and methods.

    Activities have included: recording and music production, planning and creating content for radio, Instrumental tuition: including drums/percussion, guitar and piano, singing and songwriting: including exploration of vocalisations in Rosewood and songwriting at Woodlands, discussion and exploration of music: effect on moods and emotions, experiencing music as audience; how we listen and how we experience music and improvisation through intensive interaction amongst other activities.

    Key achievements against outcomes:

    Outcome 1. To improve the quality and standards of music delivery for children and young people

    • We have gained trust and developed relationships with young people by having the opportunity to interact and explore different musical approaches from which we have been able to create individual paths for discovery and exploration through music.
    • We have broadened the musical horizons of our participants, challenging them in a supportive environment to gain confidence to make music – seeing untapped creativity emerge.
    • We’ve introduced new equipment and software which has had a positive impact on music-making throughout the programme.
    • We’ve provided credible, inspirational and active musicians and organised visits to professional creative spaces – providing an aspirational experience for our participants.

    Outcome 2. To embed learning and effective practice in host and partner organisations and share practice beyond the project

    • We have created an opportunity for teachers to engage with students in a new way that breaks away from the constraints imposed by the standard curriculum, which is not only fun and exciting for the student but the teacher as well, as he sees the students engage in a way that they never have done before
    • We have established good relationships with staff, senior leadership teams and Headteachers so that we are able to plan together, developing key milestones and targets.
    • We have developed new skills, techniques and creative ways of engaging students who are at risk of exclusion, or need additional emotional support and as such are developing effective music education and cross-curriculum pedagogies/opportunities going forward
    • We have provided relevant and innovative CPD that has developed knowledge and expertise among other permanent members of staff through their direct involvement in the project.

    “Improved attitude to having ago at music making, there is a buzz around using music and the profile of using music to extend learning has developed across the whole school” Zoe Evans, Headteacher

    Outcome 3. To improve young people’s educational and wider developmental outcomes

    • A large part of our engagement at Woodlands has involved exploration and discussion, breaking down barriers that arise from the fear of failure. As such, music has been a catalyst for increased attainment, both in music and wider developmental outcomes.
    • Music has begun to build our participants’ focus and creativity, particularly with a couple of students demonstrating how this has developed into a positive impact on their educational and wider developmental outcomes, resonating across their learning experiences within the school.
    • Music has become a vehicle for self-expression which with this particular group is becoming incredibly important to their development personally and academically…gradually increasing engagement and aspirations around music. One student is now going to be taking GCSE music.
    • We have produced individual activity guides for teachers and TA’s with specific musical, personal and educational aims. Alongside this we have regular reflective sessions in which teachers,TA’s and music leaders get together to watch session footage and share their impressions and feedback.

    “The improvement in self-confidence of our students has been incredible. At the start of the project children were reluctant to perform or even participate…By the end of this year we have seen even the most challenging children contributing, performing and recording their own musical work. Two students have returned to mainstream music lessons after a successful period with the Exchanging Notes Project…This is brilliant!” Owen Bellman, Head of Music

    Outcome 4. To develop the creative, expressive and musical ability of young people

    • Over the last year we have provided space and support for the young people to access live music and music technology to play, create and explore, breaking down barriers to engagement. This is valuable for the participants as so often they face negative reinforcement due to behavioural and emotional issues. To have the freedom to explore one’s musical ability in a safe and supported environment has had hugely positive results.
    • Participants have learned new musical skills,  developed confidence to engage and have often directed their own progression, and shared these skills with each other through peer learning and encouragement.

    Outcome 5. To highlight the importance and value of music as a positive intervention on the music and broader educational outcomes for young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion.

    • We know and understand the importance and value of music as a positive intervention on a variety of outcomes for young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion and through our work at Woodlands we are beginning to raise the profile of just how this can be achieved departmentally (i.e. staff in the Inclusion Unit, LINK Group, Music department and Performing Arts Department), at senior leadership level (Senior Pupil Support Worker, Deputy Head Teacher and Head Teacher) and across Southampton.
    • We continue to share our findings and explore developmental opportunities with Southampton Music Hub and Artswork, ACE Bridge Organisation in the South East and are looking at working with SVS to develop music-making opportunities for Southampton Young Carers and also Great Oaks to provide progression and transition opportunities for their students.
    • Our work at Rosewood has been the subject of a BSc Education Psychology degree, seeing a dissertation around “Musical Intensive Interactions” with Children who have profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities: a multiple case exploring engagement and communication.

    “The school has benefitted from the positivity that these children now have, in the sense that they cause fewer problems now that they have a strong interest in something pro active” Owen Bellman, Head of Music

    What have we achieved in the Second Year of Exchanging Notes?

    During year two we’ve consolidated our approach to engagement at Woodlands Community College through individual learning plans that have been designed in collaboration with SLT and teaching staff. Our engagement activities have consisted of:

    • Progression of focussed lyric writing that has introduced advanced musical approaches and structure, thematic exploration as a basis of creative expression and focussing on enjoyment and group working.
    • Increasing awareness and knowledge of Music Production & Technology utilising and exploring digital musical platforms
    • Individual Instrumental progression by identifying instruments that each student enjoys and supporting them to develop through 1:1 and peer learning
    • Visits to our professional recording Studio, Hightown
    • Exploration of Singing and Rapping techniques
    • Broadening musical interests through Music Listening

    At Rosewood Free School the core principles of our delivery approach and activities has remained consistent with what we hoped to achieve following our reflection and planning at the end of Year One. There have been modifications and cumulative changes that were led by the processing of feedback loops or changes in individual circumstances of participants and staff involved in the project. Activities have consisted of:

    • Engagement through improvisation-based methods responding to the diverse needs of participants.
    • Facilitation of restrictive and enhancing performance outlets, which have been graduated on the basis of student responses.
    • Development of flexible-timing interaction, with the approach becoming more nuanced and diverse following the aim to encourage the student to familiarise themselves with a wider range of sounds and actions that will still fulfil the interactive expectations that are the axis of the activity.

    The benefits of working in partnership in both of our settings, are many and involve teaching staff, support staff, administration, SLT, our practitioners and participants. We have embedded in the programme, across both settings, regular reflective and planning meetings that involve all key project staff. There have been some innovative and exciting CPD opportunities that have taken place and in both settings we have managed to link up CPD with their INSET days.

    Key achievements against outcomes:

    Outcome 1. To improve the quality and standards of music delivery for children and young people

    • In both settings we have gained a better understanding and knowledge of our participants musical interests, preferences and aspirations. From this we have been able to create and carve out individual paths for discovery and exploration through music.
    • We have increased the development of mutual knowledge and sharing of our musical delivery approaches which has promoted greater understanding amongst teaching staff of the value of music.
    • We have raised awareness of the possibility of using music and Intensive Interaction principles to extend communication and intentional behaviour/responses of learners with PMLD.

    “Working with SoCo Music Project has changed my perception of the way music can be used with people with PMLD.  “Performance, entertainment, preferences, group consciousness, and listening” used to be words I associated with “music sessions” in my classes.  I now prefer to use the words “engagement, influence, empathy, togetherness, connection, triggering, reinforcement, in-the-zone, the here-and-now, and improvisation”. Mike Roberts, Class Teacher – Rosewood School

    Outcome 2. To embed learning and effective practice in host and partner organisations and share practice beyond the project

    • Teaching and support staff have reported an increase in their confidence to support music delivery and take an active role in leading sessions. In both settings at the beginning of the project, the staff believed that because they weren’t ‘musical’ they weren’t able to provide musical interaction
    • We have seen a marked increase in knowledge and music interaction skills have been developed in teaching/support staff through focussed CPD
    • We have increased the development of resources for teaching and support staff in the settings
    • We placed an importance during this year to attend Heads of Music Panel meetings, Arts and Health as Wellbeing Advisory Group and other networks to share best practice and learning.

    “I came away buzzing with ideas and it was a great opportunity to talk in more detail about possible learning approaches with SoCo practitioners” Becca, Head of Performing Arts – Woodlands School

    Outcome 3. To improve young people’s educational and wider developmental outcomes

    • Music has become an important and vital part of our participants’ school week and the sessions are often a vehicle for self-expression, which with this particular group of young people is becoming incredibly important to their development personally and academically
    • In both settings we have ensured that our delivery is participant led, encouraging ideas and feedback to enable us to respond to their needs and interests and support creative ambition
    • Music activities during this year have become a positive springboard for wider engagement in our participant’s school environment and are supporting wider developmental outcomes. We have seen cases where some of our participants have re-engaged in mainstream education as a result of Exchanging Notes.

    “SoCo Music Project’s child led approach fits in perfectly with the Rosewood way of thinking and an Intensive interaction approach to learning and engagement” Class Teacher – Rosewood Free School

    Outcome 4. To develop the creative, expressive and musical ability of young people

    • Central to our delivery has been a focus on 1:1 engagement which has meant that we have been able to support each of our participants to learn at their own pace, supporting expression and musicianship.
    • With a commitment to reflective practice we have successfully documented progression ensuring that our participants musical interests and preferences inform delivery content and direction.

    “There has been an increase in use of adaptive technology informed by observations of what participants can do, what their sensory-motor habits, interactive preferences and designing musical activities to meet those needs and preferences” Zoe Evans, Headteacher – Rosewood School

    Outcome 5. To highlight the importance and value of music as a positive intervention on the music and broader educational outcomes for young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion

    • We have continued to share our findings and explore developmental opportunities with Southampton Music Hub and Artswork, ACE Bridge Organisation in the South East through regular meetings about programme development and outlining strategic focus areas.
    • At Rosewood this has been a pivotal year which has seen a big increase in recognition of the benefits of music as a positive intervention. This has led to musical approaches utilised through Exchanging Notes being embedded in the school as a whole.

    “Superb INSET day led by Ignacio to the whole school has encouraged staff to trial some of the techniques and resources” Zoe Evans – Headteacher at Rosewood

    What have we achieved in the Third Year of Exchanging Notes?

    Year 3 of our Exchanging Notes programme has seen us focus in on developing musical skills of our participants at Woodlands Community College through the following activities:

    • Further development of our young musicians playing skills through individual learning plans whilst ensuring progression is relevant to them and not comparative to the rest of the group
    • Small group instrumental work
    • Song/lyric writing, exploring different ways to create lyrics, brain games, group activities and individual learning, focussing on popular song structure and musical terminology
    • Music Production using iPads to create backing tracks to raps/songs with our participants gaining in confidence to generate their own musical ideas
    • Music listening with a long-standing favourite beginning activity of each session of “Musical Highlight of the Week” affording each participant a “voice” to express their interests whilst also fostering a supportive environment for peer-to-peer sharing

    The activities that have been delivered in Rosewood Free School during Year 3 have been a direct outcome of the interaction between planned activities and updated frameworks with the contingencies of student feedback and school needs and priorities. We have explored in more depth assisted technologies and devised new plans for group music-making. Activities consisted of:

    • Different types of improvisation
    • Enhanced feedback in joint performance
    • Restricted and open facilitation
    • Collaborative design of sensory-integrative strategies
    • Flexible timing interactions

    Key achievements against outcomes:

    Outcome 1. To improve the quality and standards of music delivery for children and young people

    During the third year of Exchanging Notes we have continued to place a strong emphasis on developing personal profiles and progression plans for our participants as a catalyst for improving the quality and standards of music delivery for young people in challenging circumstances. We have found that this investment and focus on our young participants has aided positive communication and engagement with teaching and support staff in our respective settings. This has in turn supported sustained and effective engagement with the young people, not just by our music leaders but with staff in the settings. Through this, where possible, we have tried to establish and support musical pathways for our participants to have access to music provision and opportunities outside of the school. This has been successful in that, teaching/support staff have a greater confidence and enthusiasm to engage with other musical opportunities and to signpost young people to those opportunities.

    • By adapting to challenges, we are improving the standards of music delivery as we not only develop new activities, but exercise our capacity to collaboratively (with teaching/support staff) adapt creatively and to turn challenges into opportunities.
    • Teaching and support staff have reported a further increase in their understanding of our pedagogical approach which has supported an increase in confidence and active participation in in interacting musically with the students.
    • There has been a greater use of new music technologies which has been well received, with staff understanding better the benefits and having confidence to use new skills they’ve developed to use it.

    “Coming up to the music sessions is a joy for us and the students and I feel that I have more confidence to make music with the students, which I never thought that I would be able to do. It has taken me out of my comfort zone, but seeing how the students concentrate in the sessions has given me courage to try myself and it has improved my relationship with students, especially those whose behaviour is more challenging when they are down in Inclusion” Quote from Inclusion Staff (Jenna) at Woodlands

    Outcome 2. To embed learning and effective practice in host and partner organisations and share practice beyond the project

    We have developed the embedding of effective practice in both settings, which has supported an increase in shared learning and engagement, with music-making interventions and activities taking place more widely across the setting, independently of our delivery.

    • We have seen an increase in confidence of staff to get more involved in aspects of music delivery, which is testament to the close collaboration through reflective practice between music leaders, administrative staff, teachers, TA’s and SLT.
    • There has been a marked increase in knowledge and music interaction skills which has been developed in teaching/support staff and at Rosewood there is a greater priority given to music activities in the School.

    “The delivery of CPD sessions has impacted teaching practice in different ways. Engagement strategies have been developed that I am now seeing an increase in confidence in my staff to continue outside of the Exchanging Notes sessions that Ignacio delivers” Headteacher at Rosewood

    Outcome 3. To improve young people’s educational and wider developmental outcomes

    We have continued to focus on exploration and discussion with staff in the settings through reflective sessions, sharing progress and developments.

    At woodlands we have ensured that we have been collaboratively planning sessions that focus around what the students are learning which has helped the participants to feel that they are progressing. This has been a key factor in maintaining their engagement in the project and supporting wider educational and developmental outcomes. At Rosewood the best evidence to demonstrate the impact of music delivery on broader developmental outcomes is in the design of the engagement framework, which has been developed over the three years through a gradual process that has involved practice, reflection, collaboration and feedback processing

    • We have found, this year especially, that our participants at Woodlands really open up and use music and creativity as a vehicle for self-expression which has supported their development personally and academically
    • Perceptions and ideas of being part of Exchanging Notes has changed in our participants and they are carrying confidence and positive attitude into other subject areas
    • Our participants development as young musicians is aligned with the social impact of music-making: which includes wellbeing, confidence, self-esteem and building relationships/friendships.
    • We have further increased our success in ensuring that our delivery is participant led, encouraging ideas and feedback from our participants to enable us to respond to their needs and interests and support creative ambition.

    “The sessions help me to learn new things but what I like most is that it helps me to calm down” Participant (Shane) at Woodlands School

    “Sophie’s playing and listening skills have improved, and she is enjoying working in a group and building friendships with others in the group, but also developing in confidence to express herself creatively. The individual learning plans have been great for Lucy as she really enjoys learning because it is relevant to the music that she is interested in” Quote from Head of Music (Owen) at Woodlands

    Outcome 4. To develop the creative, expressive and musical ability of young people

    • Further progress in ensuring that our participants have space and time during the sessions for personal exploration by setting them a challenge to create their own music and develop their skills
    • We have continued to place music-making is placed in the wider context of the young musician’s life which has supported an increase in musical learning and engagement of our participants.

    “I love how drumming is such an explorative instrument, I get to release my emotions on the kit” Participant (Nathan) at Woodlands School

    “We have seen a positive effect on students creativity, critical thinking and self-confidence to express their ideas” Inclusion Staff (Sharon) at Woodlands School

    “Ashley’s speech has shown signs of development towards more articulated and less echolalic use language. This has been particularly noticeable during communal greeting sessions and music sessions. It is believed that much of this development is owed to the expressive outlets that were developed in the context of music sessions” Class Teacher (Georgie) at Rosewood School

    Outcome 5. To highlight the importance and value of music as a positive intervention on the music and broader educational outcomes for young people at risk of low attainment, disengagement or educational exclusion.

    In both settings there has been a gradual increase in the importance given to music as a positive intervention on the music and broader educational outcomes for young people in challenging circumstances since the beginning of the project, and indeed during Year Three.

    • We continue to be committed to being an active and credible voice in the sector and are passionate about advocating the benefits of music with young people, especially those in challenging circumstances.
    • We successfully secured funding through Southampton City Council CAMHS Grant Scheme to work with young people who are either referred into CAMHS or are at risk of being so. Our learning to date with our Exchanging Notes project has been instrumental in being able to evidence and extend provision through provide musical progression routes whilst supporting emotional and mental wellbeing.
    • We organised a networking event around Measuring the Impact of Arts, which was attended by a cross section of artists/arts organisations, local commissioners and academics. A session on evaluation and frameworks was led by David Walters from the Winchester University Centre for Arts as Wellbeing, and city priorities and outlined by Moraig Forrest-Charde from the Southampton Integrated Commissioning Unit and Councillor Dave Shields, the Chair of the local Health and Wellbeing Board and cabinet member for Health
    • There has been an increase in the number of musical activities taking place at Rosewood from different partnerships but also an increase in the interest that the Headteacher has taken in the project.

    “It is important to highlight that despite the fact that music is regularly used in diverse ways at Rosewood School – and well beyond the framework of music sessions (see last year’s report) – partnerships with music organisations or facilitators were minimal previous to the Exchanging Notes project. I strongly believe that this vibrant music programme at Rosewood School would not be happening without the raising of the profile of the impact of music delivery to which the EN project has been a vital contributor” Comment made by Project Manager (Marie Negus) of SoCo Music Project

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