Our Tutor and Fellow in Music, Samantha Dieckmann is making waves this week as she convenes a new course offering Oxford music students the chance to teach local schoolchildren.
Everyone knows that music has the power to act as a universal language, transcending the boundaries of class, gender, race and age to create moments of joy, connection and self-discovery. So the thought that a whole generation of schoolchildren confined to home-schooling due to Covid-19 should lose the joy of making music is appalling. It was presumably to prevent this possibility from becoming a reality that our wonderful Fellow and Tutor in Music Samantha Dieckmann has convened this new programme, which will enable Oxford music students to teach the fundamentals of music to local schoolchildren from St. Frideswide Primary School.
In the scheme, third year music students will teach Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils some fundamentals of music as part of a module on Music Education, with the support of the children’s classroom teachers. As you can see in the below clip, which aired on ITV News this week, the children and students are both having a great time, illustrating how music education can shake off for a moment all the negative effects of Covid and allow some wonderful moments of togetherness and harmony benefitting students at both end of the age spectrum.
Oxford music students teach local schoolchildren in lockdown – click on image for video.
Commenting on the new programme, Hannah Forder-Bell, the headteacher of St. Frideswide said, ‘I am so glad that we’re able to offer this music specialism provision to our children, at a time when their mental health and wellbeing is a big priority.’
