Students and staff from King Edward’s School have been celebrating the success of their recent Community Music Outreach Project, delivered in partnership with Bath Philharmonia and St Martin’s Garden Primary School as part of the ISC’s Partnership Week.
The four-day project, which took place last summer, aimed to bring live music-making opportunities to young people, particularly those in a local state primary school where music education has been limited in recent years. It also included an inspiring collaboration with the Margaret Coates Centre Resource Base, which supports pupils with a diagnosis of an Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Building on the success of a similar programme in 2023, this year’s project centred around There Will Come by Rebecca Dale and introduced tuned instruments to further enhance engagement.
Highlights included digital audio creation sessions with pupils from the Margaret Coates Centre, supported by Bath Philharmonia’s Creative Learning Team and senior KES musicians, and the chance for pupils from St Martin’s Garden Primary to watch international cellist Laura van der Heijden rehearse with Bath Philharmonia at The Forum, Bath. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 also took part in hands-on workshops, culminating in a live performance for parents featuring djembes, violins, keyboards, a samba kit and ukuleles.
In total, nearly 60 pupils from St Martin’s Garden Primary engaged with orchestral music for the first time and explored instrumental learning, while pupils from the Margaret Coates Centre experienced the power of music as a universal language, with non-verbal participants expressing themselves through sound.
Senior KES musicians also benefited, developing leadership and empathy through their mentoring roles. The partnership with Bath Philharmonia elevated the experience, creating what organisers described as a ‘vibrant ecosystem’ of skill-sharing between professionals, teachers and pupils.
“All musical workshops filled our children with joy and inspiration – the children were captivated by the different styles of music,” said Tom Fogerty, class teacher at St Martin’s Garden Primary.
Simone Homes, Executive Director of Bath Philharmonia, added, “The children were transfixed by the orchestra and enthused to discover how to play instruments whilst creating their own musical story.”
The outreach initiative, delivered in partnership with Bath Philharmonia, forms part of King Edward’s wider outreach programme and its ongoing commitment to making a transformative difference to the community through the power of education.
