Dudley Music Education Hub follows the Dudley MBC Equality Strategy to ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion good practice is embedded across all areas of our work.
Musical Inclusion is about removing barriers to ensure all children enjoy full participation in a music education which supports the development and achievement of each young person based on their individual abilities, needs and interests.
Musically inclusive practice ensures that all children and young people who want to can make music. It can only happen by embracing a wide range of genres and styles, supporting participants to achieve social and personal outcomes as well as musical ones, and having a music education workforce which can work with young people of all backgrounds, needs and interests. (mac makes music)
In addition to the Dudley MBC Equality Strategy, the Music Education Hub have made the following four pledges:
Special Schools
The hub is committed to maintaining partnership with special schools. We will continually adapt our programme to the needs of these school communities and consider how students can engage with any projects being developed by the Hub.
Virtual School/Children in Care
We will continue to work in partnership with Dudley Virtual School to provide access to music lessons for Children in Care. Dudley Performing Arts will take the role of Arts Ambassador within the virtual school to further unlock opportunity. We will encourage schools to use Pupil Premium (and other budgets) to facilitate access and will develop our workforce in order that we are ready for the needs of these children.
Remissions for elective music tuition
We will encourage schools to provide systems that remove the barrier of financial hardship for children choosing to take music lessons. An annual discussion about remissions between school leaders and the hub is a condition of access to grant subsidised small group music lessons.
Programme of study
We acknowledge that making arrangements for a more diverse cross section of students to access provision does not on its own make our teaching inclusive. We will review provision to consider:
- a range of learning styles/needs
- how different genres of music can and should be included
- how we shape teaching after listening to young people
- the story’s told by engagement data
