Edexcel GCSE Music: Aiming for Grade 9

ABOUT THIS COURSE

Led by Alex Aitken, this new course is designed for anyone teaching Edexcel GCSE Music for the first time, or for anyone wanting to overhaul their Edexcel GCSE Music curriculum. The day starts with looking at general considerations for shaping both curriculum design and teaching approaches, including discussing ways to level-up varying abilities of students at the start of the course. Ways of achieving an integrated, holistic, outstanding and inspiring teaching approach to the course will then be discussed, before each component of the specification is examined in turn. The assessment objectives, marking grids, examiner reports and common errors for each component will then form a framework within which to shape approaches to helping students at both ends of the ability range to achieve the highest marks. Proven strategies for developing students’ skills will be included at each stage, along with the latest thinking around curriculum design, teaching approaches, and monitoring and feedback processes. The emphasis of the day will be on developing musicianship, contextual understanding and general knowledge in students, helping them to value all genres and styles of music equally, and arming them with the skills to drop back onto the highest grades at the end of the course. This new course is packed full of innovative and useful ideas for teaching Edexcel GCSE in the most outstanding and musical way possible, and is designed for both experienced teachers of Edexcel GCSE Music, and those approaching it for the first time.

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BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• A thorough day of CPD on all things Edexcel GCSE Music.
• Expert guidance from one of the UK’s leading educationalists who wrote the analysis for the Defying Gravity set work, and was on the subject expert team for the Edexcel GCSE textbook.
• Take away proven teaching strategies and approaches, as well as monitoring processes and curriculum design ideas to implement an exciting, rich and musical approach to teaching Music in your school.
• Gain a range of effective methods that encourage low-, mid- and high-ability students across the GCSE.
• Raise academic standards with a deeper understanding of what makes for an outstanding curriculum design and teaching approach, and be challenged with new ideas and philosophies, regardless of your experience.
• Improve understanding of Edexcel’s assessment criteria, and know how to use them effectively to achieve reliably outstanding results.
• The chance to discuss GCSE Music teaching with colleagues, and with Alex.

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PROGRAMME

Considerations for Shaping Curriculum Design and Teaching Approaches

10.00am

• An overview and summary of the specification, and its aims and objectives.
• Talking as musicians: AO3 and words, words, words.
• Levelling up abilities early on: strategies and solutions before take-off. Immediate priorities, and the role of musicianship.
• Achieving an integrated, holistic, outstanding and inspiring teaching approach – how?

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Break

11.45am

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Component 1: Performance

12.15pm

• Current requirements, assessment objectives, marking grids and common pitfalls.
• ‘I have Grade 6 with Distinction but got a 4’: why GCSE performances are not like practical exams.
• Summary of examiner reports since 2018; common errors, patterns, and immediate priorities.
• To be or not to be (interfering): the role of students’ singing or instrumental teachers.
• Teaching students how to practice, how to think, how to reflect, and how to work deeply and musically.
• Coaching through questioning and masterclasses; achieving excellence in solo and ensemble recordings.
• Boosting confidence in performing; strategies for wobbly legs and the anxious.

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Lunch

1.00pm

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Component 2: Composition

1.45pm

• Current requirements, assessment objectives, marking grids and common pitfalls.
• Summary of examiner reports since 2018; common errors, patterns and immediate priorities.
• The role of research and the question of pastiche.
• Composition curriculum end points and key objectives; achieving this musically.
• Ingredients of outstanding compositions; minimising subjectivity and impressing examiners.
• Designing composition briefs – issues, parameters and requirements. The role of audience and occasion.
• Developing students’ skills and monitoring their progress efficiently: minimum time but maximum value.
• Feedback mechanisms and curriculum design considerations.

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Break

3.15pm

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Component 3: The Appraising Paper

3.30pm

• Summary of examiner reports since 2018; common errors and patterns. AO3 and AO4 explained.
• Paper profiles – question types, maximising marks, and using paper profiles to shape the GCSE curriculum.
• Developing listening skills without using up finite practice questions: the role of elaborative interrogation.
• Questions 1-6: helping students to assess the level of detail required for set work questions.
• Developing internal dialogue: helping students to swim instead of bob in a pool of woe.
• Shall I compare thee? Tackling comparison questions using compartmentalisation; developing critical listening.
• Common errors per element – heading them off early, and strategies for the underconfident student.
• Question 7: teaching dictation musically, normalising the skill, and helping students to chunk information.
• Question 8: embracing unfamiliar listening, teaching backwards, and developing analytical skills.
• Question 9: essay technique to help students demonstrate a genuine understanding for the highest marks.

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Component 3: The Set Works

4.30pm A whistlestop tour of the eight musical worlds that form the set works, including key terms, focus elements, teaching strategies and suggested resources separate to the published textbook.

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Depart

5.30pm