'Please don't stop the music'

Youngsters at Maltby Academy placed posters on the corridors of the school after its leadership team announced it would no longer be teaching the subject due to a “steady decline” in interest.

Parents and relatives have also launched an online campaign and claimed there had been a “sheer lack of consultation”.

One parent, whose daughter had to change her GCSE options following the announcement, said: “She chose all of her options and was thrilled to get accepted for them all and she was doing some mock exams when they said they were dropping music. The most disappointing part of it as a parent is that there was just a sheer lack of consultation beforehand. 

“I only found out when my daughter told me.”

The parent, who did not want to be named, said his daughter hoped to become a music and dance therapist.

He added: “My daughter loves music and has also helped students achieve better grades.

“It has helped her become a more confident person and it has helped her in speaking to people. She’s not going to be able to do her dream job any more because she would have to study music later in life.”

Former Maltby pupil Stevie Challinor set up the Facebook group Save Music at Maltby Academy on Friday and it has already attracted more than 500 members.

She said: “The students have been doing stuff themselves. They put posters and petitions up in the school because there’s a lot of them want to study music.

“It’s a vital subject. It teaches so many life skills. I was really shy at school and music just gave me a break from everything.”

A current teacher at the school, who also did not want to be named, said she had seen the pupils’ posters and petitions “get ripped down off the wall” by staff.

She added: “The morale is absolutely terrible. We have got students crying saying they want to do music.

“I think the whole situation is absolutely appalling. We even had a meeting telling us not to talk about it to anyone.”

Despite the pupils’ and parents’ campaigns, a spokesman for Maltby Learning Trust, which runs the school, said music will be dropped at both key stage three and GCSE level.

He said: “Much to our disappointment, despite the academy’s commitment to offering taught curriculum time and accredited courses in Key Stage 4 and 5, GCSE Music has seen a steady decline in student interest and take up over a number of years. 

“In addition, at Key Stage 5, neither academic or vocational music provision has attracted student interest over recent years.”

Stevie has also set up an online petition, which has already attracted more than 600 signatures.

For more information on how pupils in each year will be affected visit www.maltbyacademy.com.