​Music-making for disabled children extends to three new areas

Whole Class image - Photo Credit Traybake Studios

Disabled children in Bradford, Devon and Lincolnshire are being offered the opportunity to fully participate in music-making following a successful bid to roll out the OHMI Music-Makers Whole Class Programme. The programme aims to offer disabled children the same opportunities as their peers when it comes to Whole Class music lessons in schools.
 
The support, made possible with Arts Council England National Lottery Project funding, also means the three-stage programme can further evolve in six other areas of England. This staged approach means intensive support can be offered to Music Services when most needed in the first year whilst also freeing up OHMI capacity to work with a greater number of Music Services and to concentrate on disabled children with more complex needs. The original three participant Music Services in Birmingham, Nottingham and Northamptonshire are in the process of completing their third and final year of testing, with Central Bedfordshire, Southampton and Liverpool in their second year.
 
The OHMI Trust General Manager Rachel Wolffsohn, said: “We’re delighted that Arts Council England has recognised the value of extending the service for another year in our six existing areas and to launch our delivery through Bradford Music & Arts Service, Devon Music Education Hub and Lincolnshire Music Service. We now have a good spread of geographies, sizes and ways of operating whole-class music programmes which means we can test applicability across the board and build the most robust model for future years.”
 
Bradford Music & Arts Service, Devon Music Education Hub and Lincolnshire Music Service all applied to be part of the OHMI Music-Makers programme after attending the ‘Introduction to Music-Making for Physically Disabled Children’ CPD course.
 
Bradford Music & Arts Service’s Head of Service Carl White said: “OHMI’s support in helping us to identify and assess the needs of our students well ahead of lessons will make such a difference to those who live with a disability and who might otherwise not be afforded the opportunity to play alongside their peers. We’re very much looking forward to seeing the benefits of this roll-out in the next academic year.”
 
More information on OHMI Music-Makers including a short video featuring some of its participants is available at: www.ohmi.org.uk/ohmi-music-makers.html.