Rising Star: Diane Stirling on music, access and being one of education's most exciting emerging leaders.

Diane Stirling on music, access and being named a Rising Star

Diane Stirling is Harris Federation’s Music and Performing Arts Lead Consultant and the newly crowned winner of a Rising Star award, with judges describing her as one of the most exciting emerging leaders in education. Over the past five years, she has secured more than £600,000 in funding to support improvements in Music across our academies and created opportunities most young musicians can only dream of. We sat down with Diane to talk about her journey, and what winning really means to her.

How did you first get into Music and Performing Arts education? Was it always the plan?

Not at all! I was fortunate to attend a fantastic primary school where singing was part of everyday life, and I received free instrumental lessons. There was such a strong culture of music, so a huge shout-out to Overton Primary - they were brilliant at nurturing creativity and a love of music early on.

I then went on to Wellington Academy in Greenock, a school serving a community with significant socio-economic challenges. What always stood out to me was that those circumstances never defined the expectations the school had for its young people. This philosophy strongly resonates with the mission of the Harris Federation. We had access to an incredible range of opportunities, from music, debating and public speaking competitions to Young Enterprise and university visits. The message from our teachers was always that these experiences were for us too, and they invested their time and energy to make them happen.

But honestly, I was on a trajectory to study modern foreign languages and economics. I had one gap at the bottom of my UCAS form and added Music. I auditioned for the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow for a four-year degree that combined professional performance training with teaching in schools from the outset of the course. When I was offered a place, I realised that this was the path I wanted to take.

By that point, I had become increasingly interested in the inequalities that exist in Music Education. My final-year dissertation was titled Socio-Economic Disadvantage vs Elitism in Music Education: A Tension Needing to Be Resolved, and it explored why access to high-quality music education is still so often determined by a young person's background.

My own experiences and research had shown me what was possible when state schools invested in music and the arts. I wanted to be part of making sure that children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds had the same access to exceptional music and arts opportunities. I wanted to be the teacher who could open those doors for other young people.

What drew you to Harris specifically, and what did you find when you arrived?

I moved down to London from Scotland in 2013 to take up the role of Head of Music at the newly opened Harris Academy Chobham, which had a Performing Arts Specialism. At the time, I didn't know much about the Harris Federation, but as I read more about its mission, it really resonated with me. It reflected so much of what had inspired me to become a teacher in the first place: the belief that every young person, regardless of their background, should have access to an exceptional education and life-changing opportunities.

I was Head of Music at Chobham from its opening in 2013 until 2017, so I had the privilege of building the music department from the ground up. I then spent some time leading Music in a different setting, but when the Music Consultant role came up, it felt like the right next step. I'd been a Head of Music for 15 years and realised that, while I didn't want to move into a whole-school leadership role, I did want to have a wider impact while staying rooted in Music Education. Having already had such a positive experience working within Harris, it felt like the perfect opportunity. Five years on, I'm still here, and I genuinely love what I do.

What does a typical week look like for you, and what takes up most of your energy?

A significant part of my work over the past five years has been securing funding for our Music departments, successfully bringing in around £600,000 to support curriculum development, resources and opportunities for students. Alongside this, I teach and model lessons, lead my own Year 11 classes, support newer Heads of Department with curriculum design and development, and build partnerships with external musicians and leading cultural institutions.

Creating and securing exceptional performance and collaboration opportunities for both students and staff is a key part of my role. Our students have performed for the Royal Foundation, sung at Westminster Abbey as part of the Royal Christmas Carol service, and entered and won The Voice Kids UK.

Most recently, I organised a large-scale cross-federation composition project with internationally acclaimed pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench, who performed at the King's Coronation. Six of our most talented young musicians took part in a masterclass, creating original compositional motifs, which I arranged to be professionally notated. In the afternoon, Alexis worked with students from every Harris primary and secondary academy, using those motifs to compose a new piece of music collaboratively in real time.

Delivering projects of this scale requires significant planning and coordination, but they reflect what Harris stands for - providing students with unique, transformative experiences and opportunities they simply would not have access to elsewhere.

How do I hold it all together? Organisation and prioritisation are essential. As a Head of Music, no two days are ever simple - you might be teaching throughout the day, leading choir at lunchtime, rehearsing orchestra after school and then coordinating a concert in the evening. Success comes from being able to plan strategically, manage competing priorities and stay focused on what will have the greatest impact.

Just as importantly, none of this happens in isolation. We have an exceptional team of classroom music teachers, peripatetic teachers and music leads across our network who are constantly sharing ideas, supporting one another and driving improvements together. That collaborative culture is one of Harris's greatest strengths. While every academy is unique, we're part of one music family, and that means there's always someone to learn from, collaborate with and celebrate success alongside.

How did it feel to find out you’d won the Rising Star award – were you surprised?

I was genuinely surprised and really grateful. Most of my time is spent thinking about how to create opportunities for other people. What meant the most was knowing that someone had taken the time to nominate me. Everyone's incredibly busy, so that gesture alone was very touching. It was lovely to have my work recognised, but also the recognition of the wider team and everything we've been building together over the past few years.

The judges called you one of the most exciting emerging leaders in education. How do you respond to that?

I was incredibly honoured to hear that, but what I value most is what it says about the importance of leadership in music education at a national level.

If you could change one thing about how the arts are supported in schools nationally, what would it be?

The biggest change I'd make is to simplify how schools access funding for the arts. There are fantastic funding streams available, but the systems can be incredibly complex and time-consuming to navigate for busy teachers. I'd like to see a model that's more transparent, more accessible and allows schools to spend less time on bureaucracy and more time creating opportunities for young people.

Alongside that, I'd love to see greater recognition in schools of the expertise required to lead arts subjects. At Harris, we recognise just how specialist music and drama teachers are, and the impact that subject expertise has on students' experiences. I'd like to see that reflected more consistently across the country. You wouldn't expect someone with very limited experience to lead a maths department – the arts deserve that same professional respect and investment.