Music for Life works in partnership with schools to support them in offering young people opportunities to develop musical skills and to engage them in music making. Our four key services areas are:
1) Peripatetic Instrumental Lessons
Music for Life has access to a network of almost 100 specialist teachers who offer lessons on a very wide variety of instruments.
BENEFITS OF RUNNING INSTRUMENT LESSONS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MUSIC FOR LIFE
- Reduced workload and risk faced by schools when trying to make arrangements for this kind of specialist tuition to be provided.
- Music for Life deals with all administration – timetabling, communication with parents, dealing with payments from parents, the sourcing, engaging and payment of tutors, finding replacement tutors, arranging exams, monitoring teaching quality. This releases school teaching and administrative staffs’ time from major tasks and also the many day to day issues that crop up when running this kind of service, freeing them to do concentrate on other things.
- Teachers visit during the school day, and children learning with Music for Life become part of a school community of musicians. However, in addition, Music for Life offers hundreds of young people every year the opportunity to take part in outside workshops, ensembles and other activities provided by Music for Life, most of which are offered free of charge to the students.
- All tutors are DBS checked and the quality of teaching is regularly monitored on behalf of schools and parents by experienced music educators with a track record of outstanding teaching themselves.
Please note the services listed above are completely FREE TO SCHOOLS. Some schools choose to enhance the offer to parents by providing a subsidy towards the cost of lessons, sometimes to support particular courses – eg. students taking GCSE music, students in the first term of their course – but this is up to each individual school.
2) Whole Class Projects
Music for Life pioneered whole class instrumental teaching some time before it was adopted by the government and local authority music services. Our whole class courses aim to give insight as to what it is like to learn a musical instrument and to inspire and support students and parents who then wish to continue to learn an instrument. For over 15 years, the courses that Music for Life delivers have achieved an impressive follow-on rate of 30-40%, considerably higher than the regional average.
The whole class is taught a specifically designed course by a course leader, alongside an instrumental tutor and class teacher in weekly 45-minute sessions. Most whole class courses are for 10 weeks, but some are 20 or 30. The final session of each course is a “sharing” concert and, crucially, there are opportunities for pupils to continue to learn instruments and join suitable ensembles after the whole class phase.
BENEFITS
- Improves concentration, self-esteem and team-working skills in learners
- Is proving to be a powerful tool for school improvement
- Challenges gender stereotypes in pupils choice of instruments
- Can be a catalyst to set up a new school band or can enhance an existing school group
We also offer after school clubs that occur after school, at a time that suits you in school. With the aim to enhance the ensemble skills that students may have already, or to continue on from any whole class project that has just taken place in school, it is a totally inclusive club, for any instrument or ability. The price starts from £30 a week and we are able to provide advice should you wish to explore a parent payment option.
3) Live Performances
The Performance Roadshow is a fantastic hour performance that occurs in school by a quartet of professional musicians. The roadshow is a high quality, interactive concert that can be done for the whole school, or individual year groups/key stages. The school contribution for the roadshow is £200, with music for life covering the rest of the musicians’ fees.
We also offer a free Assembly that can work around school timetables and where you hold your usually assemblies. With live music from a combination of tutors that visit the school currently, new tutors to the school and members of the Music for Life team, it aims to be an interactive opportunity with the purpose to introduce pupils to music, as well as getting them extremely excited to learn an instrument!
4) Workshops in School
Music for Life is very experienced at designing exciting and inclusive workshops – its tutors have delivered workshops with Glyndebourne Opera, Manchester Jazz Festival and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
EXAMPLES OF WORKSHOPS AVAILABLE
- Composition
- Y7 Beginner ensembles
- Y6 Transition events
- Song Writing
- Music Tech (with Delia Derbyshire Day)
- Jazz workshop
- Samba workshop
- Workshops for instrumental students in school, including a performance
With such a wide variety of engagement options available to schools, please get in touch with us if you have any queries on the above, or if you have any musical idea you’d like to explore in school. We are always looking at new ways and offerings to schools and students, so please do check here regularly! For more information on any of the above, please contact us at 01244 728 922 or at eve@musicforlife.org.uk who is the Student and Community Engagement Lead at Music for Life.
