Sadly, an able pupil is moving away to another part of the UK. I was asked for a reference in order that, once there, full musical entitlement might continue. Happy to oblige, I wrote a short history of achievement and was keen to point out that a detailed musical portrait of the pupil already existed in the form of mp3 recordings of:

• solo performing
• participation in the school Guitar Group
• participation in the East Lothian Guitar Ensemble

I contacted the school concerned and arranged to send the reference electronically. The hyperlinks have been passed onto the Music Department.

I hadn’t really considered this aspect of evidence before. The benefits of such a learning space for the stationary pupil, parents and staff seem obvious. For a pupil changing schools, a portrait seems better a better way to convey information than a descritpion – and a self-portrait better still.