Primary Education (1959)

(page numbers in brackets)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages (i-xiii)
Foreword, Preface, Contents

Part 1 Historical
Chapter I (1-11)
Recent History of Primary Education

Part 2 The Primary Schools
Chapter II (15-26)
Introduction
Chapter III (27-36)
Nursery Schools and Classes
Chapter IV (37-55)
Infant schools
Chapter V (56-77)
Junior Schools
Chapter VI (78-105)
The Working of the School
Chapter VII (106-110)
Special Educational Treatment

Part 3 The Fields of Learning
Chapter VIII (113-116)
The Curriculum
Chapter IX (117-129)
Religion
Chapter X (130-134)
Physical Education
Chapter XI (135-178)
Language
Chapter XII (179-212)
Mathematics
Chapter XIII (213-246)
Art and Craft and Needlework
Chapter XIV (247-259)
Handwriting
Chapter XV (260-274)
Music
Chapter XVI (275-288)
History
Chapter XVII (289-313)
Geography and Natural History

Part 4 The Special Problems of Wales
Chapter XVIII (317-329)
Wales

Index (331-334)

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1959
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.

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For the young child at home or in school music and language are so closely interwoven that he can sometimes be overheard, when at play, passing naturally from speech to song and back again with no apparent consciousness of the change. A similar attitude has been observed among adults in primitive communities; for example, much of the oldest poetry that has come down to us seems to have been sung or intoned rather than declaimed. Milton's 'Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers' symbolise two related modes of using the same vocal organs. The elements of stress, speed, and pitch have their place in speech no less than in song. Nor is purely instrumental music without its connections with language. Various types of solo and choral song have played an important part in the evolution of instrumental idioms, textures, and forms; and indeed most of our modern instruments of music can be traced back to prototypes in the primitive harp, horn, pipe and drum whose sounds were once venerated as supernatural voices and credited with magical powers.

Although speech and music as modes of human expression have tended to develop independently to an extent that makes their remarriage in solo or choral song a matter of artistic effort and compromise, their original relationship can never be disregarded by the teacher. There is hardly any principle for the teaching of language that is not applicable to the teaching of music. Much of what has already been said about language, both in Chapter II and in Chapter XI, should therefore be treated as a background to the present subject.

Music is a specialised language, learnt in the same way as the mother-tongue, by hearing and imitation from early infancy. It is a language with its own idioms, many of which are derived

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from the idioms of speech, Musical idioms are almost, though not quite,* as arbitrary as the idioms of a spoken language. The musical scales, for example, which form the framework of what we recognise as a tune, are conventional patterns of tones and semitones that have evolved by an intricate historical process. Without their control music would be incoherent and incomprehensible, as some contemporary composers admit when they substitute for traditional scales another discipline such as the twelve-note system. The definition of a tune as 'a series of sounds that people are used to' is thus something more than a witticism. For the teacher the fundamental truth is that until a child has got used to the pitch-patterns accepted by our musical culture through hearing them arranged and rearranged in tunes, he cannot begin to reproduce them with his vocal organs; he cannot 'sing in tune'. The relevance of this process to the common problem of 'growlers' is discussed later in this chapter.

Response to the rhythmic element in musical language usually develops more rapidly. In musical rhythm also there is a common stock of idioms - groups of shorter and longer, lighter and heavier sounds, - which musicians are constantly manipulating in fresh ways. Some of these idioms derive from bodily movements and gestures, others from verbal patterns, an origin that is reflected in an interesting way in the subtle differences that occur between the folk tunes of different peoples; the Hungarian language, for example, has imposed on the simplest traditional melodies types of rhythm that appear to be easy for Hungarian children to apprehend but come less naturally to those whose language is differently constructed.

In music, as in speech, the whole of an idea must be presented before its grammatical parts. Melodic intervals and rhythmic figures can be studied as separate entities only after they have been repeatedly heard in the context of simple but complete tunes, which are comparable to the units of thought or sentences from which language study begins. For example, there is a time for directing conscious attention to the melodic group d-r-m, but not until it has been repeatedly heard and subconsciously retained in such contexts as

*The reservation is made because the natural laws of acoustics have certainly influenced the development of music, especially in the growth of the harmonic system on which modem European music is based.

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the nursery songs Curly Locks, and Frère Jacques. Similarly, the rhythmic grouping

will be learnt not in isolation but as the basic pattern of Hickory dickory dock and other 'six-eight' tunes.

The written language of music can only be introduced naturally and effectively when there has been ample preparation of this kind. The symbols that have to be memorised before beginning to sing from staff notation are remarkably few. The principle of the stave with its lines and spaces must be understood, and the shapes of the most commonly used notes must be learnt, as they often are at a comparatively early age through rhythmic percussion playing. But there are many details, including letter names of notes, bar lines, time signatures, and key signatures, which need not be explained or even mentioned in the earlier stages of vocal reading. The aim is to gain fluency in singing simple tunes from notation with the help of whatever preliminary information - the position of the tonic on the stave, for example - that the teacher feels to be necessary. Reading facility, with music as with language, comes not so much from instruction as from constant practice. In other words, it depends more on skill than knowledge. Notation must be appreciated by pupil and teacher alike as an aid to enjoyment, a means of quickly and accurately learning a new piece of music or recalling a familiar one. It is true that very simple tunes can be picked up and memorised entirely by ear; but even in the primary school a stage is soon reached when notation becomes an aid and indeed a necessity. The bright junior class learning every song by rote, with the only copy of the music in the hands of the teacher, is being deprived of valuable opportunities for developing self-reliance, and may be cut off from a great deal of music which it could, with the help of notation, assimilate and enjoy.

Although attention has been drawn to some parallels between music and language, it is well to bear in mind one important difference. Whereas choral speech is still, in spite of interesting modern experiments, a comparatively rare device, choral music is as common as solo song, and probably plays an even more important part in the musical life of the amateur. While the teaching of the mother tongue must always be directed towards the needs of individuals, the teaching of music is concerned with

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both the individual and the group. Music reading, for example, can be practised chorally, and probably no harm is done if the more expert children lead and the rest follow; but it will be all the better if time can also be found for practising individual reading, whether with the voice or with an instrument such as the recorder. Part of the contribution of music to a balanced education lies in its appeal both to the least gregarious and to the most sociable of pupils. Even so, it is usually advisable to keep groups reasonably small for musical work. The general practice, formerly common, of combining two or more classes for music lessons is now happily disappearing.

A powerful factor in musical education is the teacher's own enjoyment of music, and his power to communicate that enjoyment through confident but sensitive presentation. The most useful musical asset the primary school teacher can possess is a pleasant, unforced singing voice. Instrumental skill is also an advantage, and even the most modest keyboard technique can be put to effective use by concentrating on playing the melody alone, with expressive touch and musicianly phrasing, and by avoiding the use of more or less complex harmonies which might impair clarity, accuracy and rhythmic flow. Some teachers find the recorder or violin more satisfactory than the piano for presenting simple melodies, and some provide simple and musicianly accompaniments by means of the guitar. The teacher's resources may be supplemented by a carefully planned use of broadcasts and gramophone records. Whatever means of presentation are selected, the object must always be to give the pupils direct experience of the music in a way that will immediately capture their interest and imagination. If this is achieved, the process of learning will be both rapid and pleasant. It is a fair test of a music lesson to consider how much real enjoyment has been shared by the teacher and the children.

Making music is a creative process, whether considered from the standpoint of the composer or the interpreter. Both aspects can find their places in the primary school. The direct creation of music may be more difficult than performance or re-creation, but nevertheless there are ways in which it can be attempted. The children may, for example, carry on a process which the composer has already begun by adding original rhythmic patterns to existing material, a technique to which the traditional percussion band may lend itself, especially in the junior school.

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Song-melodies may be shared among sections of the class on the basis of phrase-construction; different vowel-sounds may be substituted for words in a song; or experiments in interpretation may be carried out by trying various schemes of dynamics. Unaccompanied and accompanied verses may alternate, and simple piano accompaniments can be played in different registers of the keyboard. If other instruments such as recorders or violins are available, experiments in scoring for various combinations can be made by pupils and teacher in partnership.

The provision of scope for initiative, either in the creative or re-creative sense, helps to bring a spirit of adventure and exploration into the music lesson, and counteracts any tendency towards over-direction on the teacher's part such as may endanger spontaneity. The pupils will soon realise that hard work is required in the pursuit of excellence, a discipline which music exacts like any other art. They will grudge no effort if the goal is clear and seems worth striving for, and the making of music is regarded as an act in which everyone can take part according to his gifts.

When a child comes to school he normally brings with him a considerable variety of musical experience. Much of this will doubtless have come from sound and television broadcasts ranging in suitability from such series as Listen with Mother to more sophisticated programmes preferred by the older members of the family. Snatches of contemporary popular song heard at home and elsewhere may also have made their impression. More fortunate are the children born into homes where music is a respected part of everyday life, where the adults or older children play instruments, or where the mother is able to pass on the nursery songs that form the one section of our native folksong that has never entirely disappeared from oral tradition. There will be few children who have not become aware of the raw materials of music, the differences in quality of sound and volume that result from tapping, banging and twanging various objects, and of the satisfaction of improvising rhythms by such primitive means.

The nursery years, that bring adults and children so closely

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together, can play an important part in providing the most valuable elements in those early experiences of music which are a natural and satisfying part of a child's life. It is the task of nursery and infant schools to enlarge the scope of musical activity, without necessarily making use of formal instruction or set lesson periods.

The more freely music can enter into the daily life of small children the better, and their own teacher, working in the normal surroundings of her room, is in the best position to realise at what points in the school day some kind of musical activity is possible and appropriate, whether the whole group or a few individual members of it should take part, and what materials are required. Some of the qualities of sounds - their pitch, direction and intensity - may be discovered with the aid of orthodox and also of improvised instruments, and through experiment the children can gain an understanding of the different timbres derived from sound-producing materials - wood, metal, glass, stretched strings and so on.

Singing comes foremost among the resources available at any time of day; it calls for no apparatus apart from the teacher's voice, and experience shows that there are few teachers of young children who cannot learn to sing simply, naturally and rhythmically the traditional songs that are the children's heritage and that should form the basis of all their musical training of the primary stage. Even if the teacher is a pianist she should cultivate the habit of unaccompanied singing, which allows her to get closer, both physically and imaginatively, to the children, though she may find an instrument, which need not invariably be the piano, an aid to ensuring that the pitch of the song is suitable to the range of the children's voices. It is best to present a simple song as a whole, without separating words from tune, and the teacher will be able to do this with confidence if she has memorised it. As the songs become longer it is still desirable to present them as a whole, though it may be necessary to teach them phrase by phrase, a method that helps towards the appreciation of the rhythmic shape of the song and towards breath control. Formal exercises in breathing and tone formation are seldom effective with small children; musical phrasing and pleasing tone develop through imitation of good patterns set by the teacher and by the more talented children in the group. An easy lilting rhythm, carried through from verse to verse, helps to

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maintain brightness and naturalness and to avoid the breathiness that often results from flagging rhythm.

The inability of some children, frequently boys, to sing in tune is a defect that is often described as 'droning' or 'growling'. It is commonly caused either by difficulties of muscular coordination or by faulty listening; seldom is it a sign of true tone-deafness, which is incident in only a minute fraction of the population, nor is it to be regarded as a symptom of being unmusical. On the contrary, the 'droner', though not always conscious of his defective pitch-adjustment, is often enthusiastic to an embarrassing degree. Given the freedom to sing as a normal member of the group, perhaps in proximity to good singers, and encouraged to listen attentively, he will probably gain control of his voice by the time he is eight or nine years old. The droner generally has a normally developed rhythmic sense and can take part in percussion playing, and towards the end of his infant school life his sense of pitch may be helped considerably by playing any simple melodic instrument. The presence of several 'droners' in one group is an almost certain sign that the group has heard and taken part in singing too infrequently, and the remedy is obvious.

Many excellent books of traditional English nursery songs, with others adapted from foreign sources, are now available, and all nursery and infant schools should have a selection of them. Some of the most useful books suffer from overloaded piano accompaniments, which can be omitted or simplified if they cause any difficulty. Many simple folk songs lend themselves to antiphonal singing between teacher and children or between one group of children and another, and some give scope for the children to take the parts of different characters. To this wealth of traditional song-literature may be added a few songs by modern composers, but great care is needed in selecting them; there is much poorly written or dull music to be avoided, and some of the best can only be effective if a capable pianist is available. Traditional singing games have a perennial vitality; not so the specially written 'action songs' in which every gesture is prescribed.

It may be well worthwhile to introduce the older children in the infant school to the pitch names (often called 'solfa names') and time names (sometimes termed 'French time names') that have proved their value both in primary and in secondary

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schools. Unless the teacher thoroughly understands these devices, however, the children will derive little benefit from them. It is important to realise, in the first place, that they are fundamentally aids to the ear; later they can and should be linked with the conventional symbols of ordinary musical notation, but there is no need to treat them as an independent system of notation. The spelling out of the names on the blackboard, therefore, or on flash cards is pointless. Further, the whole purpose of the names is to clarify relationships between sounds, and this purpose is defeated if the names are presented as isolated units. They are best introduced in association with easy phrases from tunes the children know, the teacher patterning a phrase of a few notes in which she has substituted pitch or time names for the customary words, and letting the children imitate what she sings. This again involves careful preparation on the teacher's part, and it should be done very frequently, for a few minutes on each occasion, as an enjoyable game. The children will soon gain fluency and confidence in manipulating the syllables orally, and with consistent practice will find in the junior school that they already hold the clues to the notation of music. When all seven of the diatonic major pitch names have been introduced they should still be practised in relation to tunes; aimless singing up and down the solfa scale is a tedious, mechanical and generally useless procedure. Whether staff notation is actually introduced in the infant school depends on a number of considerations: how much oral practice it has been possible to give the children, their general ability as indicated by their reading age, and the interest and proficiency of the teacher. Even if no specific teaching of notation is undertaken the children's curiosity may be aroused by placing a few attractive books of tunes in their library or music corners.

The music corner may be in the classroom, in a corridor or in the hall - anywhere that provides free access for individual children or small groups. It should contain simple instruments such as tambourines, drums, xylophones, glockenspiels and tubular bells. The variety of instruments will enable them to discover experimentally a great deal about pitch relationship, tone quality and differences of volume, and the percussion instruments especially can be used imaginatively in connection with movement, dramatic work and singing. This kind of experiment and improvisation should precede any attempt to form a

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disciplined percussion group, and the melodic training possible through instruments like the xylophone, which produce sounds of definite and graduated pitch, should be regarded as at least equal in importance to purely rhythmic percussion. In all instrumental work the small group is preferable to the large class; indeed, the conventional percussion band lesson might well give place to a more flexible treatment in which small groups of players form only part of a varied pattern that can include singing and movement. From these activities may spring ideas for seasonal celebrations, informal concerts and the like.

The combination of movement with music has been the subject of much experiment, especially in primary schools, and the whole question calls for clear thinking and continued study. Moving to music may mean several different things. It can take the obvious form of fitting steps to a dance tune, a relationship that is predetermined when the music and the movement have evolved together, as in traditional dances. Or the relationship may be less precise, as when movement follows the general structure of a piece of music - its phrase-lengths, its climaxes and cadences and so on - without attempting to reproduce its metrical pattern. Or it may even be based almost entirely on an emotional parallelism, with free movement responding to the prevailing mood of the music. It is often assumed that all children move spontaneously to music that attracts them, but experience shows that they vary considerably in this, some having real difficulty in making any response in movement except a limited and conventional one. For this reason, music may be a hindrance rather than a stimulus to movement. On the other hand, music that contains an easily-grasped metrical pattern, like that of many traditional tunes, may give scope for individuality if the children are encouraged to carry out the pattern according to their own ideas, whether these lead them to move over a wide area or to confine themselves to a restricted space. A few clear principles emerge from these somewhat complex considerations. First, much should not be expected from young children until they have acquired resources for movement apart from musical associations. Secondly, it is not always as easy as it may appear to extract a rhythmic pattern from a musical texture; and it may be helpful in the earlier stages to use percussion instruments, rather than gramophone records or piano, to suggest movement, with opportunities for the children to

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supply their own accompaniment when moving, or to play rhythms for other children to move to. Thirdly, any music used for movement must, however simple, have high quality; music played with distorted accentuation, or specially written to accompany one narrowly specified type of movement, or improvised inadequately, should not be tolerated in any scheme of musical training.

Even when music is played with the express intention of evoking a response in movement, it may be found that certain children prefer to sit quietly and listen. This preference should be respected; indeed for all the children there should be frequent opportunities for listening to very short pieces played by the teacher on some instrument or reproduced by gramophone records or wireless [radio]. It is quite unnecessary that music presented to children should have associations with a story or a picture, or that they should be encouraged to visualise such associations. The range of music young children find interesting is commonly underestimated. On the other hand, their span of attention is short and should not be stretched unduly. Once they have heard something they enjoy they will welcome it again and again, and the familiarity that comes from frequent re-hearing is an important factor in forming sound and pleasurable habits of listening.

It is not easy, in the physical conditions of many junior schools, to reconcile the natural and growing demand of children of this age for disciplined team work with the wider range of individual interest and ability that now becomes increasingly apparent. Out of class activities, which are nowadays fostered in so many schools, are a great help in giving scope to the keener and more talented children, while judicious planning of the curriculum and timetable can generally avoid the disadvantages of combining classes for singing.

Specialist teaching of certain subjects, including music, has been adopted with intention in many junior schools, and through force of necessity in many others. If there is on the staff a musician of parts he may help in planning, and in general act as consultant to colleagues and children. He may form a school

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choir, and organise and keep close contact with instrumental work requiring visiting teachers. His room may be a recognised music room suitably sited and equipped for the purpose, even though some other kinds of work may have to go on there also. But in any school where there is the desire to let music play its part in the scheme of junior education, some at least of the teaching must fall to the class teacher, who knows his children individually and can foresee occasions for bringing music into touch with other branches of the curriculum. It is hardly necessary to mention that if several teachers are concerned in the teaching of music all should be in possession of the scheme of work for the whole school, and that periodical staff conferences and other means should be used to ensure, in this subject as in others, continuity of treatment and steady progression towards agreed aims.

The core of the song repertory in the junior school, as at the earlier stages, should be formed of traditional material - the folk and national songs of our own and other lands. Hundreds of these are now in print, and their exploration is a fascinating pursuit for those who wish to avoid the staleness that may result from teaching the same list of songs from year to year. The non-specialist teacher may find it safest to rely entirely on these traditional songs, and need not hesitate to do so. The fundamental reason for basing musical education on folk song and dance tune does not spring from a timid conservatism, but rather in a realisation that a song that has come down through generations of oral tradition nearly always owes its survival to sound construction and sincerity of utterance. Gifted contemporary authors and composers often produce songs of comparable quality, but the chances of discovering such happy inventions among a mass of inferior writing are comparatively small; they are certainly no greater than those of finding contemporary verse or stories that can stand up to the challenge of the past.

Older juniors may widen their song repertory by judicious choice from classical and modern composers and learn, first through antiphonal singing, and later through canons, rounds and descants, something of the joy of part-singing. Much of their singing at all stages should be unaccompanied, so that they sense the need for easy and beautiful tone, well-shaped vowels, lively lips, vital rhythm and flexibility in shaping the contour of phrases. The mood of the song must be realised first of all, for

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interpretation is the target at which all technical skills, including accuracy of notes, should be aimed. It is a mistake to try to 'learn the song' and subsequently 'put in the expression', or to separate words and tune during the first stages of the learning process. Children love contrast of mood and speed - light, fast 'lip-songs' are a particular delight - but pitch and tempo should be congenial to the range of their voices and their natural rate of movement. Many hymn books, not specially edited for children, print the tunes in keys chosen to allow baritones in the congregation to sing the melody in comfort; some hymns may therefore need to be transposed even a third higher for children. Even a good song book may contain tunes that are all the better for an upward transposition, and very often this process is all that is required to give fresh impetus to a tune that shows a tendency to flatten in performance. The cause of flatness is almost invariably boredom or indifference, which may be accentuated by over-use of a limited part of the vocal range.

The treatment of 'growlers' has already been discussed. These children should never be excluded from the singing class, nor silenced altogether when the others are singing. A little individual attention usually produces rapid improvement in sense of pitch and control of voice, and the provision of simple instruments as an alternative means of musical expression is particularly helpful in such cases.

The place of a scheme of music reading in the junior school has already been referred to. Such a course can succeed with most children only if firmly based on oral facility in using pitch names and time names. The pitch names can be practised through known tunes printed on the solfa ladder. This, incidentally, should not invariably rise from lower to upper doh with one or two steps by way of extension at either end. Probably as many major tunes lie between the dominants (soh and soh) as between the tonics (doh to doh). Nor should the modal scales (lah to lah, ray to ray, etc) be neglected, as they are not only beautiful in themselves but provide a convenient introduction to the classical forms of the minor mode. The French time names have a double value, first as a means of clearly, rapidly, and pleasantly articulating rhythmic patterns, and secondly as a means of analysing them aurally. They should always be used musically, with natural rhythm free from clumsy stresses and with sensitive phrasing. There is no need to spell out the rhythm-names, either in

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French or English orthography; they are meant to be heard and felt, not seen.

Once these devices have been translated into the symbols of staff notation - and remarkably few symbols are required to read a very large number of simple tunes - there should be regular and frequent, but not laborious, reading practice. The main effort should be towards securing fluency, and the temptation to engage in exhaustive theoretical explanations should be resisted. Much can be taken for granted, at least in the earlier stages, and perhaps in the later ones, by all but the ablest children. There is, for example, no need to avoid keys like E major that are convenient for singing on the assumption that the key signature must first be elucidated, since all that the children require is to be shown the position of the keynote on the staff. On the other hand, the fact that C major is the easiest key to read on a keyboard instrument does not imply that it is a particularly easy or grateful key for sight-singing. Similarly, if attention is given to phrasing and note values, much of the apparatus of time-signatures and bar-lines can be taken in one's stride in reading a simple tune. As reading power grows it should constantly be brought into service; the elucidation of a difficult vocal or instrumental phrase, the attempt at reading a suitably chosen phrase in a new song or piece, are obvious examples, and use of the blackboard is important. The first 'readers' in either pitch or rhythm may be anthologies of favourite phrases, the notation of which is recorded by the child with the help of the teacher and with little or no explanation; but, as no one can learn to read a language without seeing it often in print, it is desirable to provide, at least in the upper half of the junior school, copies of songs and hymn books with the melody line in staff notation. Some teachers like to use one of the many published sight-reading manuals to supplement these; the best contain carefully chosen and graded extracts from song melodies and other literature, and avoid those chronic maladies of the sight-reading exercise - the insistence on using the entire scale in every eight bar melody, the neglect of ranges other than the doh-doh octave, the timorous avoidance of anacrusis, and the lack of sense of phrasing and climax - all of which make a tune unnaturally difficult to sing and unsatisfying when sung.

Finally, however anxious we may be to develop reading skill in junior school children, we should not exclude from the child-

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ren's repertory songs that are technically too difficult to be incorporated, except perhaps in part, in their sight-reading work. It would be unfortunate if the useful connection between reading and repertory were made so rigid as to preclude any worthy musical experience with a direct appeal to the ear and the imagination.

A child who plays an instrument, whether tubular bells, recorder, pipe, or violin, will probably advance more quickly in pitch reading with it than with his voice. At the same time, a child learning to play any instrument should be taught to hear the expected note mentally before he plays it, so that he may know by ear, as well as by sight and touch, whether the sound produced is correct. Mention has already been made of the informal use of percussion instruments and recorders. Group discipline has its place with both, but it is not the first stage. Percussion playing, often too hastily discarded when the children leave the infant school, may have fruitful developments in the junior school, especially if they are encouraged to work out their own rhythmic patterns and produce their own scorings. Recorders are instruments of ancient and honourable lineage with a large repertory of music properly belonging to them; they are invaluable aids to fluency in pitch reading; and they begin to yield pleasure at an early stage of learning.

The most successful teaching of the more difficult instruments, such as the violin, is usually found in schools that enjoy a full and varied musical life. There is little doubt that, given suitable conditions, the primary school is the stage at which the violin and the 'cello can be introduced to selected children with the greatest hope of success. Skilled instruction is essential, and will generally be provided by a visiting specialist who has made a study of modern practice in group teaching. The cooperation of one or more members of the full-time staff of the school, is, however, equally important, since they alone can supervise individual and group practice on the school premises and give opportunities for the children to exercise their new skills among their companions. The instrumental teacher should be able and willing to demonstrate freely to his pupils and, if possible, he should play quite often to them and to the other children. If he is not a full-time member of the staff, the more he can be felt to belong to the life of the school the less will be the disappointing wastage of enthusiastic beginnings.

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There will be many occasions when music can be used with movement, drama, history, or literature, and often very profitably in connection with seasonal festivals. A concert for its own sake has a useful place, so long as the children's interests are not unduly subordinated to impressing the audience. School music festivals have done much to show what can be achieved in taste, variety and skill. They are exciting events, and so may be incentives to children's keenness, but sometimes they have been allowed to influence unduly, or even to dictate, the musical activities of the school. Operettas written for children are all too often open to the objection that the quality of the music is poorer than the songs they normally sing. It is perhaps not necessary to emphasise the freshness and variety that music can contribute to the daily Act of Worship.

Opportunities for listening, on which stress has already been laid in discussing the infant stage, should continue in the junior school along with active music-making. The various series of music broadcasts, if selected with the needs of a particular group of children in mind, may offer a refreshing enlargement of the children's repertory and a range of resources not easily available in the classroom. But the quality of reproduction must be good, close attention should be paid to the age range for which the broadcasts are planned, and the children should have copies of the appropriate pamphlets.

Every teacher of juniors will find it worthwhile to discuss with the children the music they hear out of school, especially through sound broadcasting and television programmes, for only by doing so can he learn his pupils' tastes and the full nature and extent of their experience of music.