Q&A: Stuart Birnie

SB: Back in the early 1990s, it was all about small group or one-to-one teaching, traditional forms of tuition, for only those parents, carers and schools that could afford it. Then in 2001 [Education Secretary] David Blunkett said that every KS2 child that wants it should have access to instrumental learning. That transformed instrumental and vocal teaching in music services around the country, and certainly for Birmingham. We adopted a system with seven failing schools to see if it would support school improvement for the children in those schools and communities. It had a big impact on teachers and on how we understood the children in front of us. We doubled up teachers, which was a good way of mentoring new staff members. It was no longer a 45-minute lesson on one instrument, but a holistic music teaching model, whether singing, listening, interpreting, improvisation, composing, or performing.