Schools Minister Visits Barmston Village Primary School
The children of Barmston Village Primary School hosted a very special guest last month, when Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell paid a visit to see and hear the wonderful music-making activity that is going on in their school.
Newcastle Tyne North MP Catherine McKinnell was visiting the Washington school as the government announced it’s Music Opportunities Pilot in partnership with Young Sounds UK.
Several children in Barmston Village Primary are currently already part of Young Sounds’ Connect programme, which provides children with funded music tuition, a bursary and individual learning plans to support their music learning. The Connect programme helps young people who show musical potential but may otherwise not be able to access music lessons due to financial barriers.
The new Music Opportunities Pilot will build on this existing work by providing £2 million of investment to Music Hubs around the country, with Sunderland Music Hub one of the partners to benefit from this. In partnership with Young Sounds UK, this funding will see 30 further students in Sunderland receive funded music tuition, enabling them to continue their musical learning outside of the classroom with a dedicated music tutor.
As well as Connect music lessons, the children of Barmston Village Primary School also benefit from a Musical Nurture Group – a ‘musical intervention’ that aims to build resilience and raise self-esteem in children at risk of poor outcomes due to Social Emotional Mental Health, behaviour and/or confidence difficulties – and their Musician in Residence, who ‘lives’ in the school and embeds music into all aspects of the children’s school day. Both activities also took place on the day of the visit in order to showcase the diverse musical activity young people engage with within their school.
“Our children absolutely love and thrive with music,” said Deputy Head Teacher Jack Cunningham. “All of our children jumped at the opportunity to get involved. We are seeing children in our school that might feel nervous in lessons, they might feel they’re not achieving as well, but if they show that little spark with music, we can give them that opportunity and that output and that really drives them forward.”
Schools Minister Catherine McKinnell spoke to BBC Look North about her visit: “It was wonderful to visit Barmston Village Primary School and see firsthand how Young Sounds UK’s programme is developing students’ skills, confidence and passion for music. Sunderland has a really rich music culture. It’s really great to be here, celebrating that, but also tapping into it as a way of understanding how do we reach as many children as possible.”
We would like to say a big thank you to all the children and staff at Barmston Village Primary School for being such welcoming hosts. Thank you also to Catherine McKinnell for taking the time to visit, as well as the Department for Education and Young Sounds UK for their funding and support with the Music Opportunities Pilot.
