by Author TelfordWrekinMusic

Published on

You are here:

End of our first In Harmony year

In Harmony is a national programme jointly funded by Arts Council England and the Department for Education running in 6 areas across England, Liverpool, Lambeth, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle Gateshead and Telford / Stoke on Trent based on the famous El Sistema approach from Venezuela. At the heart of El Sistema is a simple idea: using the classical music ensemble experience to promote positive social change in youth.

 

In Harmony is a national programme jointly funded by Arts Council England and the Department for Education running in 6 areas across England, Liverpool, Lambeth, Nottingham, Leeds, Newcastle Gateshead and Telford / Stoke on Trent based on the famous El Sistema approach from Venezuela. At the heart of El Sistema is a simple idea: using the classical music ensemble experience to promote positive social change in youth.

All six In Harmony programmes aim to inspire and transform the lives of children in deprived communities, using the power and disciplines of community-based orchestral music-making.

The music education hubs of Telford and Stoke & Staffordshire together with Manchester Camerata and CBSO have created a collaborative delivery team to deliver the In Harmony programme in two schools in Stoke and Telford, Old Park Primary School in Telford and Heron Cross Primary School in Stoke on Trent, two schools with a high percentage of free school meal pupils and pupils with special education needs.

Our In Harmony programme aims to be an early intervention programme that uses music and engagement in an orchestra from an early age with the aim of fostering confidence, teamwork, pride and aspiration in the children taking part, supports social mobility, raising achievement, community regeneration and civic renewal. We aim to engage the whole family and wider community and so extend the benefits of these outcomes across the wider community. The orchestra, as a model community, is used as a tool to counter exclusion, foster confidence and provide challenges.

 

Some key features of our In Harmony programme from year 1 include:-

  • Instrumental teaching programme in place with team of 26 musicians from across the two orchestras and two music services delivering whole class and small group instrumental lessons; in addition to general musicianship classes and after school music clubs;
  • All children learning instruments from Year 2 to Year 6 have their own instrument which they can take home, all class teachers are also learning an instrument alongside their pupils;
  • Early years and Family music learning programmes are being delivered regularly in both locations through the programme, such as adult music lessons, adult samba group; early years music sessions for 0 to 5 year olds with their parents;
  • Practice clubs have begun in both schools – some with class teacher support others with In Harmony delivery team support;
  • Apprenticeship roles as part of our delivery team for students from the Birmingham Conservatoire and also around project management of the programme;
  • Regular opportunities for our pupils to perform in public and to their parents to help raise aspirations and confidence;
  • Pupils and parents regularly attend concerts with the CBSO and Manchester Camerata;
  • We have built the Arts Council’s Children’s Arts Award into our programme to help recognize and celebrate achievement by our pupils;
  • The In Harmony online practice tool for use at home and in the classroom and our collaborative lesson planning tool has been built to support our In Harmony delivery team;
  • International Partnership Agreement with El Sistema around sharing ideas, resources and possible future teacher and pupil exchanges.

 

The National Foundation for Education Research is currently undertaking a three year evaluation study of the national In Harmony programme to help measure the impact of the six programmes. Also running alongside this piece of work is an AHRC funded research study by the University of East Anglia looking at the cultural value of In Harmony.

 

You can follow our In Harmony Telford and Stoke on Trent online blog with postings by our pupils and teachers here:- www.inharmonyonline.org

 

Our latest In Harmony Telford and Stoke on Trent short film from our Family Learning day with the CBSO at Symphony Hall in Birmingham is also online here:- http://vimeo.com/68219479

 

Ian Thomas,

In Harmony Telford and Stoke on Trent