Sooree Pillay, Regional Producer - Midlands, on the evolution of Leics Create - our whole class instrumental teaching project in Leicestershire.

Through feedback and collaboration with our partners, she touches on how we're refining our approach to support even greater inclusion.

Whole Class Instrumental Teaching (WCIT), has been in place in primary schools across the country for many years. For some children, it is the first time they have the chance to hold and play a musical instrument.

After speaking with our Music Education Hub partners in 2021, we learned that while this was a great opportunity to give access to musical experiences to more children, the initiative has not been without its challenges for teaching teams.

We wanted to explore ways that we could maximise the experience of this teaching to inspire children to continue on a musical journey, and allow class teachers and hub tutors to feel supported in the delivery of the programme.

This was the starting point for the creation of our Leics Create project, in partnership with Sinfonia Viva and Leicestershire Music.

The Leics Create model: inclusion at the heart

At the outset, inclusion was at the heart of what we wanted to achieve with Leics Create. We wanted all children who participated in the project to feel a part of something exciting, to be proud of what they had learned, and be able to realise their creative musical voices in the sessions.

The model was a simple one: Sinfonia Viva would develop a resource pack with a skilled Music Leader, which would be shared with schoolteachers and Leicestershire Music tutors in a CPD session.

The session meant that the teaching team could engage with the resources in advance which included pieces for the children to learn, and opportunities for them to co-compose new music. The tutors would then tutor the children with Sinfonia Viva musicians over several weeks. The culmination would see all the children come together to play alongside Sinfonia Viva and Leicestershire Music youth ensembles as part of Leicestershire Music’s annual showcase at De Montfort Hall.

Lessons learned and tweaking the model

At the end of the first Leics Create, we were delighted with the positive feedback on the experiences that existing participants had, but some fundamental aspects of the project were still not fully inclusive.

We discovered later that a few children had been excluded from Leics Create classes before our arrival, as it was deemed that the project could not meet their additional needs.

We also needed to find a way of making the showcase event at De Montfort Hall a positive experience for all taking part, especially disabled young participants with additional needs.

The dynamic teaching teams at Ashmount and Birchwood special schools, class teachers, and SEN leads in mainstream schools, under the guidance and support of Sarah Share from Leicestershire Music, have been crucial in improving access within the bounds of the project.

This year, on a visit to Birch Wood School, I was able to see first-hand the impact of these music sessions. There were detailed and powerful interactions between a non-verbal child and clarinet player and Music Leader, Jesse Grimes, where the young participant was able to touch and feel the vibrations of the instrument.

Ashmount School pupils were also given the opportunity to interview Sinfonia Viva players as part of their Arts Award. This year, they stood alongside their mainstream county school peers at De Montfort Hall. I felt that we still had a long way to go, but that an authentic pathway had been created.

Leics Create is now in the planning stage for its fourth iteration, growing in reach and, as we refine the model, is more authentically accessible. We have moved a step forward, but there are many more to come before we can say that we have achieved our initial aim of inclusivity in its truest form.

We must and will continue to learn from professionals whose advocacy on behalf of these young people guides our developing practice now and for the future of not only Leics Create, but all of our work.