About Dorset Music Hub
We're Dorset Music Hub, a community of people and organisations led by Dorset Music Service.
We're here to make sure that all children and young people in the county can learn and benefit from music that matches their needs and interests. We:
- provide and support music lessons and groups, events and experiences, in and out of school
- work with teachers to help build capacity for music in schools, and sustain it
- listen to what young people - and those who work with them - tell us they need and help them connect with people who can provide it
- are helping Dorset to grow diverse, inclusive and relevant opportunities and pathways to benefit young people in all sorts of ways
Why we do this
We do this because we believe that music can play an important part in children and young people's lives.
It helps them with wellbeing, self-esteem, resilience, creative expression and nurturing skills for learning and for life.
Why we're needed
For a young people to thrive, they need their unique interests, needs and potential to be recognised and valued.
For many young people, music is the key. It's the thing that they most enjoy, that gives life purpose and motivates them.
It has a positive impact on their life. For some, it becomes a future career path, for others a life-long passion.
These impacts and benefits are particularly true for those who face barriers or struggle to engage in learning.
So we use our central government funding to identify gaps, remove barriers, and to act as a catalyst for joint working for improved outcomes for children and young people.
How we do it - our values and ethos
As an inclusive music organisation, our values echo those of the Alliance for a Musically Inclusive England which are that we want young people's music to be:
- holistic: the personal, social and emotional benefits of music drive our vision and mission
- equitable: people facing the biggest barriers receive the most support
- authentic: the work is designed in collaboration with the people it's for
- representative: the people we work with reflect our diverse society
- diverse: all musical genres, styles, and techniques are valued equally
Our vision, mission, objectives and priorities
Our vision
Our vision is to build an inclusive music education culture where all children and young people are valued and where they can see their hub providing a range of diverse and relevant musical opportunities and progression pathways.
Our mission
Our mission is to lead Dorset's music education hub and support all young people's musical journeys through inclusion and partnership.
Objectives
Our objectives are to:
- re-shape our offer to Dorset schools and community to ensure a larger number of young people feel the impact of the MEH's (Music Education Hub) work
- campaign with partners to actively encourage young people's engagement and access to music tuition and group music-making
- maintain the level of engagement with WCET (whole class ensemble teaching) provision in primary schools at 80-85% and enhance school curriculum support through DMH (Dorset Music Hub) School Membership Subscription.
- expand CPD support, with a focus on building sustainable skills for school colleagues to increase confidence and skills in music and singing delivery
- raise the profile and music education within localities, supporting school improvement, wellbeing and inclusion agendas
- enable transition partnerships between schools through singing initiatives, collaborative projects and performances
Key principles
Our key principles are:
- delivering the NPME (National Plan for Music Education) for Dorset
- increasing musical inclusion
- effective strategic leadership of the workforce
- increasing partnership working
- deepening engagement with stakeholders
- strengthening financial resilience
Strategic priorities
Our strategic priorities are:
- culture change: embed and prioritise inclusive practice in our community
- develop the offer: to be relevant and accessible to a diverse range of young people
- workforce development: support music leaders to deliver musically inclusive practice
- young people and stakeholders at our centre: co-produce and evaluate with partners
- raise our voices: strengthen inclusive profile and make the CEP (Cultural Education Partnership) offer more visible
- monitor progress: ask questions, collect the right data and use it to inform our plans
The benefits of music education
Watch these two videos from Anita Collins about the cognitive benefits of learning music:
Music education has also been shown to:
- increase confidence and self-esteem, which has a knock-on effect in all areas of their life and learning
- improve health and wellbeing, reducing stress, increasing a sense of wellbeing and happiness
- provide important life and social skills, such as listening, concentration, working as a team
- develop creativity and self expression, helping young people to think differently and develop their power of imagination
- improve cognition, literacy and numeracy, neuroscience research has show that children who learn an instrument have higher levels of cognitive capacity, particularly in language acquisition and numerical problem solving skills.
- unlock potential, particularly for young people who are strongly creative, or who struggle to engage with other areas of learning
There is a wealth of academic research as well as action research from the music education sector to back this up.
To find out more
Read 10 things schools should know about music, and download the leaflet and poster
Visit Music Education Works.