News | 07 January 2026

Teacher in Focus - Mr Scagell

School performances are far more than moments on a stage; they help shape school culture, build confidence, and strengthen a sense of community. Drawing on experience as a music teacher in both the UK and Sweden, Mr Scagell reflects on the lasting impact that performance opportunities can have on students’ personal growth, character development, and aspirations. He also explores the vital responsibility schools have to create meaningful opportunities that allow every student to be seen, heard, and inspired.

“The importance of school performances and providing opportunities for students” - Mr Scagell (School Performance Lead, IES Solna)

Performances in their various forms play an undeniable role in defining school culture - they represent what a school celebrates and how its community engages with it, from the talents of its students to annual traditions. All schools have a responsibility to provide students with the opportunity to perform, not only for the pride and joy of it, but for the character building that it brings.

As a brief introduction, I am a music teacher from the UK with over 10 years of experience in the classroom and extracurricular events. I have had the joy of working at IES Solna since it opened in 2021 and during that time, I have taken on a role specialising in school performances which I work in alongside my position as teacher of music. My route to becoming a music teacher was paved with unforgettable experiences that would never have happened had it not been for the mentors and role models that took me under their wings during my own education, so my professional values today are largely based on ‘giving something back’. 

From the age of 11, I had guitar lessons with an incredible tutor named John Wines (later known as Old Grey Guitarist of social media fame and as a semifinalist on America’s Got Talent in 2023) who not only taught me the instrument but also put me on stage in front of audiences, which was crucial for me and my personal development as I entered my teenage years. Hundreds of performances later, it is safe to say that I would not be doing the job I do today without the opportunities I had been given as a student.

In my first role as a qualified teacher, I worked for over 5 years in a music department at a school in the UK which truly went above and beyond with its mission to provide opportunities for students to perform. It taught me what school performances can be capable of and certainly set the bar high - not only that, it enabled me to understand the impact it has on developing soft skills. It was during that time that I learned to appreciate how important such opportunities are and how they do not happen unless we as educators are there to provide them.

Moving to another country and learning how its education system operates, I soon discovered that it is less common in Sweden for schools to have as many performances during the academic year than it is in the UK - external organisations such as Kulturskolan already do an outstanding job of this. In our first year at IES Solna, we organised Lucia and skolavslutning performances, but we also wanted to aim higher with what we could offer to our school community. We started with a talent show in 2022 and - in the years that followed - hosted choir festivals with other IES schools, charity concerts with an organisation from the US and prom fundraiser shows, all of which have become annual events. In the last 4 years, we have hosted and participated in over 20 events, giving hundreds of students the opportunity to perform.

What started with a school choir and student band or two has snowballed into a thriving culture of students who are passionate about performing. Particularly within the last year, it has become evident that the older students inspire the younger students to start bands and to step in front of audiences themselves. We now have a total of 10 groups  from Year 4 to Year 9 who meet once a week in their free time to rehearse and prepare for their next school performance. We aim to provide at least one event before each school break, which last year resulted in 7 performance opportunities for our students. While it is unlikely that we will find time for more events in our busy school calendar, our next goal is to involve as many students and schools as possible, inviting more to perform and even more to attend these exciting events which form lasting memories.