By increasing opportunities for music education in a rural, state-funded primary school we are creating a model to inspire and empower present and future generations—strengthening communities, embedding aspiration and achievement, widening and deepening participation, and improving the life chances of the young and marginalised.

Our Mission

To enable present and future generations from every background to enrich their lives through music, supporting communities, and raising ambition and achievement.

Our Aims

It’s time we revalued music education

Equality: Democratise music education in depth and quality

Community: Strengthen connections within and between communities

Creativity: Increase opportunities to discover and develop creative talent, raising aspiration and achievement

Eyke Music Programme set out to address the inequalities in music education. The foundation of the programme is music literacy skills and singing with a string programme as its focus. Despite the disruption of the pandemic, the programme has grown to include 51 of 108 primary pupils participating in weekly individual lessons in 2022, the second full year of the programme.

Beyond the individual achievements of the children, the Eyke Music engages parents who sit in on weekly lessons and are far more involved in their children’s education, supervising weekly practice and supporting the programme at performances. 

Its connection to the community has helped the programme to grow, drawing in support in kind and pro bono work. In 2022 we received our first substantial donation to start a ‘Mini Music’ preschool programme and a community choir, both of which embed music into the wider community.

The programme currently provides:

• Kodaly based music literacy classes delivered weekly on a whole class basis across the school. The ambition is that all children in year six will be able to read and write music when they leave the school.
• All children in KS 2 receive weekly choir rehearsals with a vocal specialist and all year
• All year two pupils learn a string instrument in small groups, not whole class, for a term
• Four ensembles are delivered weekly during and after school
• Individual lessons in violin, viola, cello, double bass, piano or singing are given by specialist tutors
• Weekly, pre-school, ‘mini music’ sessions given by a qualified musician and early years music specialist
• Our free to join community choir is open to all friends and families of Eyke
• Visiting artists performing for the children in the school
• Performances by the children on the programme at Christmas at care homes, at school as part of a spring recital and at Snape Maltings during the Eyke Music Programme summer recital

Impact is measured by the quality of performances, growth of the programme, engagement in outside activities such as ABRSM exams, Benedetti Foundation sessions, and county music ensembles, and parent feedback.

Over time, we are building an excellent music programme in a rural state primary school which we believe can become a model of best practice, demonstrating what can be achieved, and how much richer all our children’s lives could be.