Surrey Schools music to receive nearly £2m funding

Nearly £500,000 is to be spent providing instruments and music technology to schools

Schools in Surrey are to receive nearly £1.9m to help teach children music.

About £500,000 of that is to be spent on instruments and technology.

The money has come from the Department for Education, and will be administered by Surrey Arts on behalf of Surrey County Council.

Some of the money will be used to provide adapted instruments to help children with disabilities learn music.

Sarah Lee, head of service at Surrey Arts, said: “We’re working with schools at the moment to identify what the needs are and what young people really need to enable them to participate in music.

“For young people with additional needs, maybe a physical disability, we’ll be able to buy instruments that are adapted, things like music technology to make the ability to learn a musical instrument much more accessible."

Teachers hope children will learn resilience, even if they do not continue their musical journeys

Two children who are already learning music through Surrey Arts are 13-year-old Eliza and Edward, 10.

Cellist Eliza said: “If you put a lot of effort in, you will get lots of skill out of it.

Edward, who plays the trumpet, said: “When you start it is difficult, but you can’t let that discourage you otherwise you’re never going to carry on practising. Once you actually put the effort in you get a lot of joy out of it."

Tim Samuel, executive headteacher of Walton on the Hill and Kingswood primary schools, said he hoped even if children did not continue to play, they would still benefit.

"They recognise you have to be resilient to learn something" he said.

"They appreciate the skill and determination that musicians put into their craft.

“Forty odd years ago I started playing the trumpet and that’s given me a life-long hobby."

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