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Year 3stringsinitiativeAs part of Bromsgrove School’scommitment to and developmentof the Performing Arts, all Year 3pupils now have the opportunityto learn a string instrument ina group for free. There is noadditional cost to parents for thisscheme and pupils have been ableto choose for themselves whetherthey want to play the violin, viola,cello or double bass.Launched at the beginningof term, the School’s team ofspecialist string teachers, ledby Miss Fiona Swadling (Headof Strings), will work with MrsJessica Russell (Prep SchoolMusic Teacher) to deliver a newcurriculum for Year 3.James McKelvey, Director of Musicsaid “Their class music lessons willbe a valuable extra group learningexperience in addition to anindividual or shared lesson option,if they choose to take up separate32 Music & Dramainstrumental lessons. Thereare huge gains to be found inlearning an instrument includingthe development of many lifelongskills: concentration, patience,motor skills and memory,confidence and sense of publicperformance, creativity andsensitivity, independence, teamwork and interaction with peersand adults.”The scheme will run throughoutthe academic year, culminating ina concert showing off the skillsthat the pupils have learnt.Sound-isolatingMusic teacher plays atLast Night of the PromsMs Natasha Wright, head ofinstrumental music studies at StSwithun’s School, Hampshire,played viola as part of the BBCSymphony Orchestra at the LastNight of the Proms at the RoyalAlbert Hall, London.Natasha, who was a member of theBBC Symphony Orchestra for eightpractice roomseducation > home > recordingOur sound-isolatingMusic Practice Roomsenable musicians torehearse in controlledconditions that limitnoise escape to theadjacent areas. Builton a modular design,the practice rooms canbe adjusted to fit thespace available.years prior to joining St Swithun’ssaid ‘It was an amazing experience.I’ve played in the Last Night Prombefore, when I was a member ofthe BBC Symphony Orchestra, butthat was about 10 years ago. It’s along concert, but the atmosphereis like a big party. I think the piecewe all enjoyed playing the mostwas the arrangement of the MaryPoppins songs’. This sing-alongsection was led by musical WestEnd star Ruthie Henshall.Natasha was also invited by theorchestra to join them for theopening night of the Proms and twofurther Proms during the summer.Three St Swithun’s pupils also sangduring Prom season at the RoyalAlbert Hall. Bridget Burkill, age15, Rebecca Bird, age 13 and AnnaRodrigues, age 18, joined other girland boy choristers from WinchesterCathedral for Prom 66, which wasPeter Sellars’s staging of Bach’s StMatthew’s Passion, with the BerlinPhilharmonic Orchestra conducted bySir Simon Rattle.Get in touchTelephone: 0844 846 9740www.musicpracticerooms.comAre schools ready forshared parental leave?...asks Donald MacKinnonMuch attention has beenfocused on the UK Government’scontroversial reforms of theemployment law landscape,including the introductionof tribunal fees, which manycommentators have seen as abarely veiled measure to preventemployees asserting their rightsagainst their employer. Lessnoticed, however, has beenthe Government’s continuedimplementation of a variety ofnew ‘family friendly’ provisions,designed to promote a work/life balance in the workplaceand encourage a moreequitable sharing of parentalresponsibilities between parents.Chief among these changesis the introduction of a newentitlement for employees whohave recently become parents(whether by birth or adoption), totake shared parental leave duringthe first year of their child’slife or in the year following thechild’s adoption placement.Under the new regime, themother of the child (or adoptivemother as the case may be) willbe able to share with her partnerall of the maternity leave towhich she is currently entitled,other than a mandatory twoweek maternity leave periodimmediately following the birthof the child, providing that shegives at least 8 weeks’ noticeto her employer indicating herintention to return to work.Similarly, her partner must give8 weeks’ notice to his employeroutlining his intention to takeleave.The right to take parental leavewill apply to any child born,or due to be adopted, after 5April 2015. Employers, however,would be ill-advised to waituntil then to have new policiesand procedures in place. Giventhe fact that the parents of anychildren conceived now will beentitled to this leave, employerscan expect, and ought to beready, to receive inquiries relatingto shared parental leave.The proposed new leave regimehas had mixed reactions. Formany, a scheme that seeks tofacilitate an even distribution oftime between both parents andtheir child can only be beneficialto the child’s development.However, the regulationshave already been branded a“nightmare” by the DeputyDirector of Policy at the Instituteof Directors.What worries many in thebusiness community is that, atpresent there are no clear-cutprovisions in relation to thedistribution of leave betweenboth parents. It is hoped thatdetailed regulations, due tobe published in October, willanswer some of these questions.However, what is clear is that allemployers will require a rewritingof internal policies, as well assome tricky strategic issues toconsider around pay (in particularenhanced maternity pay). Inpractical terms, there will also bethe difficult task of orchestratingleave between both parents withthe consent of each parents’respective employers.The potential difficulties forthe employer will be amplifiedif the mother opts to take herentitlement to leave on a noncontinuousbasis, shared betweenher and her partner, as therewill need to be a discussion andagreement between all partiesconcerned.Donald MacKinnon is Director of Legal Services at Law At Work. 0141 271 5555The actual effects of these newprovisions may not, however, beas burdensome for the employeras they may, at first blush, appearto be. In 2011 the Governmentintroduced additional paternityleave which was the firstattempt to share a portion ofthe mother’s unused maternityleave between the mother andher partner. The number of new(predominately) fathers who havetaken the option of additionalleave has been surprisingly small,with only 0.6% of employeeseligible to take this leave initiallydoing so, increasing onlymarginally to 1.4% in 2012-13.Whether or not the newprovisions succeed in recastingthe traditional notion of mothers,rather than fathers, taking thebulk of time off work during achild’s early years, remains to beseen. What is clear, however, isthat the new rights to time offwill require a substantial amountof work for busy HR departmentsin the months ahead.Legal 33