The GDST Insights report highlighted fear of failure as a key challenge for young women, emphasising the need to create environments where they feel safe to take risks, learn from mistakes and develop resilience. At Norwich High School for Girls, we see music education as a powerful way to help students navigate this challenge. Whether composing, performing or analysing music, our students learn to embrace complexity, take creative risks and see failure as a vital part of growth. Here, we explore how the Music Department supports students in building confidence, adaptability and a lifelong love of learning.

Resilience begins with an environment where students feel supported in taking creative risks. In music composition, students are challenged to create original pieces, sometimes based on a brief, sometimes entirely independently. This process is both exciting and daunting—combining melody, harmony, rhythm and texture into something new requires confidence and perseverance.

To foster this mindset, we encourage students to see composition as an experiment rather than a test. By shifting the focus from a “perfect” end result to a journey of exploration, students become more willing to take risks, make mistakes and refine their work through trial and error. Peer feedback plays a vital role in this process. By sharing their compositions with classmates in a constructive setting, students learn that setbacks are a natural part of creativity.

One of the biggest hurdles is overcoming the fear of the blank page. To combat this, younger students collaborate on ideas, learning to draw inspiration from one another. By the time they reach exam years, they have developed the confidence to take creative ownership of their work, whether using digital audio workstations, notation software or traditional manuscript writing.

Performance is one of the most visible areas where students encounter fear of failure. Missed notes, stage fright and forgotten lyrics are all common experiences – even for professional musicians. Rather than seeing these as disasters, we encourage students to view them as learning opportunities. Experienced performers don’t eliminate nerves; they learn to manage them.

Building performance confidence happens progressively. Many students start by playing or singing for friends in a low-pressure setting. As they grow in confidence, they perform in year group assemblies, concerts and whole-school events. Some choose to keep music a personal passion, while others thrive in larger public performances, competing at national level or even touring internationally. Regardless of the stage, each experience teaches them to manage setbacks and grow in confidence.

Music appraisal – breaking down and understanding compositions, both aurally and theoretically – can be daunting, particularly when students encounter unfamiliar musical language or complex concepts. Rather than seeing these challenges as barriers, we teach students to break problems into smaller, manageable parts.

For example, a student struggling with classical score analysis might initially be feeling overwhelmed by intricate harmonic progressions. By linking these concepts to familiar pop or jazz chord progressions, or another more familiar genre, they begin to develop confidence in identifying patterns and making sense of more complex works. Similarly, drawing connections between their own compositions and professional pieces helps students see analysis as a tool for creativity rather than a technical exercise.

One student, initially hesitant about performing after a negative experience outside of school, gradually rebuilt her confidence through tailored mentoring and smaller performance opportunities. She has since set her sights on a career as a professional vocalist. Another student, struggling with classical score analysis, gained confidence when we reframed the task using jazz harmony, a style she was already familiar with. This small shift unlocked a deeper understanding, confidence in, and enthusiasm for complex analysis.

By embedding opportunities to embrace complexity and learn from failure in music education, we equip Norwich High School for Girls students with skills that extend far beyond the classroom. Whether they are composing, performing or analysing, our students learn that setbacks are not obstacles but stepping stones to growth.

In a world that often emphasises instant success, teaching students to value the process, including its struggles, helps them develop resilience, adaptability and a belief in their own potential. Through music, we inspire our girls to take risks, embrace challenges and see every mistake as an opportunity to learn.