sos1:

does anyone else feel the momentum is building

Dundee's SNP-led council is proposing to cancel PE and music specialists in primary, but not to worry, primary teachers are trained to deliver those programs. Aye right.

For the record, here's the Courier story, and a link to a blog by one of the Labour councillors---scroll down for his posts on the proposals as well as his take on the supply fiasco created by Mr Russell & Co. At least someone is speaking out. Anyone have any more examples? 

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Dundee/article/20299/school-music-tuition-faces-cuts-under-3-5m-city-council-savings-plan.html

"Visiting specialists in music and physical education would be removed on a phased basis to save £77,000.

There are 5.6 FTEs in music and 6.2 in PE, and the council say primary teachers are already fully trained to deliver the music and PE curricula. There is also support available from the arts and PE areas."

http://lauriebidwell.blogspot.com/

CanuckGrrl:

primary teachers are already fully trained to deliver the music

having a big shout+swear out loud right now - ask any primary teacher if they feel confident enough to deliver ALL the Es+Os and they will tell you in 2 words. If they have the confidence then they are music teachers who do not have the patience required to do the demanding job which they already do so well.

CanuckGrrl:

save £77,000.

Why are parents allowing this to happen? They wouldn't tolerate me teaching their wee darlings primary subjects so what is the difference? Primary teachers need to vote with their feet and refuse to teach music and PE - obviously there is a councillor in the art teachers' corner here or art would be getting taught by colouring-in amateurs (no offence to my Art teacher colleagues meant).

jonowen:

Why are parents allowing this to happen?

joni, aye, I can't get my head around this part at all.

If a politician in Canada DARED to reduce, let alone axe wholesale, without so much as a by-your-leave, a PE or music program in a primary school, there would be all hell to pay from the parents---they'd be up in arms and out on the streets. The general shrugging passivity here, the willingness to roll over and take whatever the powers-that-be dish out, never ceases to amaze me.

I may be misreading the article but it's not clear whether  the 'specialist music instructors' referred to means instrumental instructors or whole class music specialists. Incidentally I'm not condoning the removal of either group, I'm just wondering which group is being referred to. If it is the instrumenatl instructors there can be no argument on the grounds that a class teacher can do this. If they mean the latter I can see how this argument can be made in theory however the reality is very different. Unfortunately it's probably the case that they mean both groups.

The comment about redeployment of specialists to secondary schools  is interesting. This suggests that the powers that be are thinking about instrumental instructors in this instance. It wouldn't suprise me if they hadn't considered the different roles of the two groups. My concern about this redeployment is that it is likely to be driven by an attainment agenda and so the instructors will be moved to those schools which are more likely to have young people being presented for national exams. This means that not only will children at primary school not get a chance to learn an instrument at a formative stage but the double whammy is that it is those children who are in more deprived areas who  even at secondary level  will now  have less opportunity.