From humble beginnings, the Yamaha State School Partnership Project now involves education establishments across the UK. Bill Martin explains what the initiative is and how it has evolved.
It’s not just in business that our market-led, consumer society is striving to achieve more with ever fewer resources. Within education, schools are required to continually improve results and ‘add value’. Many music departments strive for improved take-up for music – at Key Stage 4, for example – with a level of funding so tiny it prevents them from introducing budget-hungry musical instruments and equipment. Music technology poses a new set of problems. Equipping a classroom with the latest computers, recording systems or keyboard instruments can be tremendously costly and even in the most sedate department the technology becomes obsolete or worn out relatively quickly.
It was in the light of this problem that Yamaha-Kemble was approached by The Bishops Stortford High School in Hertfordshire in the late 1990s. The school hoped to secure around £10,000 worth of free keyboards for its music department.
If Yamaha agreed to these almost daily requests from schools and colleges, we would soon be out of business – but we hate to disappoint. So, between us, we found a creative way forward by setting up what has become our State School Partnership Project (SSPP).
Celebrating its sixth anniversary this autumn, SSPP is a true partnership (sharing both the benefits and responsibilities) and now involves around 40 secondary schools.
Yamaha-Kemble provides the continual advice, support and expertise to oversee the operation, point-of-sale materials and corporate branding. It also supplies the necessary hardware (instruments) to carry out the operation: currently one PSR3000 and 10 PSR1500 keyboards (plus other equipment and accessories) to a retail value of around £15,000. Yamaha also identifies and trains suitable teachers.
The host secondary school runs a Yamaha Music School (YMS) operation out of hours for members of the local community aged from four to adulthood. The school provides a suitable teaching space (usually an existing classroom) and prepares the premises with YMS posters and literature (all supplied). It plans, organises and manages administration and regular student recruitment as well as the teachers and their pay. It also maintains regular lines of communication with the teacher and the YMS regional manager to agree objectives and monitor progress.
The benefits are transparent. The partner school has access to state-of-the-art instruments and equipment, replaced every three years or so to insure against technological obsolescence. Music’s profile in the school curriculum raises expectations for music in the host and its feeder primary schools as well as providing lifelong learning activities for the wider community. Pupils attending the YMS gain access to specific Yamaha course materials and grade examinations, fully QCA accredited by Trinity College London and Rockschool Ltd.
The project is funded from the shared income from the out-of-hours YMS teaching, currently split 50:50 between Yamaha-Kemble and the host school. Yamaha’s share funds the initial stock, teacher training, promotional and consultancy support as well as the replacement of instruments. From its share of the income, the school pays the teacher, which leaves a contribution towards the school’s administrative costs. Most schools spend on average around three hours per week on YMS administration.
We have had one or two minor crises when administration was either non-existent or simply inadequate in a couple of the projects we had started. We learnt very quickly that having a local YMS administrator – usually someone from the host school’s existing office staff able to take on a few additional hours – is crucial for success.
The core benefit is the supply and updating of high-quality instruments and equipment – effectively on longterm loan – rather than to generate income. In practice, many schools have generated surplus income from YMS lessons, money that can be ploughed back into the music department.
Most importantly, finding a good teacher is paramount. While we can’t dictate teacher or student fees, most projects agree a rate with their teacher (paid on a per-student, per-hour basis) which, in a class operating at around 80 percent capacity, would provide an income a little above what the teacher might earn for a private one-to-one lesson. This provides an incentive to earn rather more if student retention is good.
In addition, the professional development is provided free to teachers, who receive an unprecedented level of support that is simply not available to those teaching privately. Each project becomes sustainable long-term once it exceeds weekly YMS student numbers of 50 keyboard students, 40 guitarists, 30 drummers and 20 vocalists.
In the long term, our aim is to find partners who will work with us for many years.
Bill Martin is YMS Regional Manager, looking after Yamaha Music Schools at the top end of the UK and in Ireland. He is also responsible for courses and teacher professional development for Yamaha Music Schools in the UK.