Swansea Music Unit set for September launch

PREPARATIONS are under way to enable hundreds of pupils across Swansea to have access to high quality music tuition in the new school year.

More than 80 per cent of schools have signed up to the city’s new Swansea Music Unit – a Swansea Council service which has developed out of the former joint West Glamorgan Music Service.

The unit’s experienced staff have a successful background of helping children learn music and enabling those with a particular talent to succeed in their instrument of choice.

Many will have taught in the school before and others will be settling in to new schools to bring their expertise and dedication to whole new classes of youngsters.

Cllr Jen Raynor, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “September is a new era for school music services in Swansea and I am delighted the vast majority of schools have signed up because that will open up opportunities to so many youngsters.

“The service will move forward in the new school year, building on the existing provision to meet schools’ expectations and their aspirations for pupils.

“We are confident as we make the service stronger and demonstrate its professional approach that schools will be reassured they are getting something better than anything other music service providers can offer.”

The Swansea Music Unit is being launched because Neath Port Talbot Council and Swansea Council de-coupled the West Glamorgan Music Service and set up separate music services.

The way the system works nationally is that schools make their own decisions on purchasing music tuition provision from their budgets. They can choose music services from a council-run service under what’s called a service level agreement (SLA).

So far 59 primary schools and 12 secondary schools in Swansea have agreed Service Level Agreements to receive a music service from the Swansea Council Schools Music Unit from September.

Among them is YGG Llwynderw where plans for the new school year include giving whole classes of youngsters the chance to try an instrument for the very first time.

Headteacher Gayle Shenton said: “Music is very much part of the fabric of Llwynderw because pupils enjoy music, parents enjoy seeing and hearing them play, and through learning music pupils gain a whole range of other skills too.

“We are looking forward to welcoming teachers from the Swansea Music Unit into our school each week because we want to give our pupils the best possible chance to learn.”