you might like to have a look at the music department of the future resource on the Musical Futures page on this site.

A case study of Simon Balle School - a Musical Futures school that has redesigned and rebuilt its music department based around the principles of Musical Futures. Lots of detail here which should give food for thought!

Also, try to get hold of a copy of SSAT's publication Arts spaces in schools It has sections for all Arts Departments, a good bibliography and a list of exemplar schools and their websites.

Well, this discussion didn't get anywhere, and yet, to me, poor room design is a constant barrier to a good lesson. Obviously we all make do. My main teaching school's music department is part of the old Science suite. There's no sound-proofing, which is its worst feature, yet we have made the best of it. The EAL department, Games and the year 11 office are reconciled to the fact that the steel bands do get better from November on.

There's no computers - well, that's a plus in my digital-immigrant world. But, for composition for those who prefer, we have to get up, leave the instruments and head for the computer room.

The keyboards are round the edge of the main teaching room, so they're all backs to each other when playing - makes you feel very vulnerable, useless for ensemble work. Occasionally we try re-arranging, then they all trip over the leads, and when you complain, big shock! What's the problem! Look at all this equipment!

But at least we have the only dedicated large steelpan room in Leeds, and without it I can't think the Sparrows would ever have won the M4Y World Music Award and been asked to play at the Albert Hall.

But, as Bob Dylan wrote, in the Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll, "now is not the time for your tears".

We have BSF in this new world - building new schools for the future. Where the importance of Music, the artform, the school subject hardly registers. All across Leeds, and probably the whole of the UK there are brand new, very expensive music suites not entirely fit for purpose. And now is the time for our tears.

Hi Lisa, There's a whole chapter in "Including SEN in the Curriculum" by myself and Diane Paterson called "The Ideal Classroom" . Although the book's title might seem to be about Special Needs, it's completely about inclusion of children with Special Needs into a mainstream school. Before we became Special Needs specialists, Diane and I worked in mainstream schools, and I was Head of Music for many happy years at Foxwood School in one of the most deprived areas in the UK. By the time of its closure in '96 it was a special school in all but name, which included mainstream students.

The book [see my resources] discusses best room layout, best instruments, best teaching techniques, how to manage the TAs and includes cartoons drawn by Charlotte Emery, and some anecdotes from real life music teaching situations which will bring a chuckle to your heart and also some pangs of sadness, when you realise the amount of obstacles that we music teachers face on a day to day basis means that lessons are lost and children are hurt by the ignorant actions of school management teams who try to, and alas, sometimes succeed in moving all the schools' music lessons to other subject areas for the durations of the GCSE exams. [And some of us didn't really have proper sound-proofing in the first place!].

You can't loose. It's only £25, and Diane and I get 88p royalties each for every book sold [which is one pint of lager for every two books - obviously in Leeds, Not in London!].

Hi Lisa

There is a forum discussion 'New Build and Music ICT installations' - way down the list, but well worth checking out.

NAME have produced a bulletin called Music accommodation in primary schools. Order from www.name.org.uk

DCSF Building Bulletin 86 on music accommodation in secondary
schools and the guidance document on acoustics (BB93) are both being updated. Publication of the updated BB86 will be March 2010.

www.soundadvice.info/ provides information on noise levels in schools and
colleges, with some practical advice for minimising risk.

www.musiciansunion.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=484
provides information on a range of health and safety issues in schools and colleges.

Hope this helps!