Music service

South Ayrshire Music Service supports the education authority in its duty to ensure that education is directed to the development of the personality, talents and mental and physical abilities of our young people to their fullest potential.

High quality teaching and instruction delivers an active and enterprising approach to learning. The Music Service enhances the curriculum and supports our young people to be successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. It helps to ensure that our young people develop knowledge, skills and attributes they need to flourish in life, learning and work.

The service is committed to:

• Providing access to music tuition for as many learners as possible including the most vulnerable
• Develop more opportunity for young people to benefit from participation in ensembles, groups and orchestras
• Recognise and celebrate achievement in music

The three areas of service are as follows:

Instrumental instruction

South Ayrshire Council Music Service provides free instrumental music lessons to both primary and secondary school pupils across the local authority area. Many schools have orchestras and ensembles of their own which pupils are expected to participate in. In addition, the Music Service provides opportunities for pupils to participate in authority wide ensembles that perform regularly at concerts, charity events, competitions and festivals both locally and nationally.

The service is delivered by a team of professional instrumental music instructors who work closely with schools to deliver an enhanced learning opportunity. At present over 1300 pupils in South Ayrshire receive weekly instruction from a team of 14 FTE Instrumental Instructors.

Youth music initiative

The Youth Music Initiative (YMI) is funded by Creative Scotland on an annual basis and the initiative has been running for the past 10 years. The Youth Music Initiative (YMI) programme intends to:

• Create access to high quality music making opportunities for young people aged 0 - 25, particularly for those that would not normally have the chance to participate
• Enable young people to achieve their potential in or through music making
• Support the development of the youth music sector for the benefit of young people

YMI projects delivered by South Ayrshire Council's Music Service for year 2012-2013 are:

• The Big Sing!
• The Big Bang!
• Strum Along
• Be Creative
• Music Therapy

Primary music specialists

South Ayrshire Council has a team of five Primary Music Specialists. Schools choose to employ these specialists from within their individual staffing compliment. These specialist staff deliver high quality class music lessons covering CfE Outcomes and Experiences to pupils within the school at the direction of the Head Teacher.

Contact:

South Ayrshire Music Service
South Ayrshire Council
Ayr Town Hall
New Bridge Street
Ayr
KA7 1JX