Music Education: State Schools

Lord Wilson of Sedgefield Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Aberdare (CB)]

My Lords, until recently, I chaired a charity aimed at inspiring young people with a love of classical music. We developed teaching resources for schools based on Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”, branded as Fantastique! for Schools. Schools that used them were delighted with them, but scaling up proved challenging.

How can we do more with the resources and dedication already out there from teachers, hubs, musicians, orchestras, opera companies, choirs, venues, charities, grant-givers and, of course, parents? We need a better awareness of what is actually available. Perhaps a central hub run by the proposed new national centre for arts and music education could signpost resources and guidance for schools.

We should also actively share good practice and success stories. Recent events hosted by the Opera APPG in the Jubilee Room have showcased some inspiring examples: a class of 20 violinists from an east London primary school; a school choir which sang in ENO’s “La Bohème”; and a class of ocarina players reading music at sight. Examples such as these show how music fosters discipline, behaviour and learning, and could motivate other schools.

We should encourage more partnerships and less fragmentation, but none of this will work without enough trained music teachers, including part-time, non-specialist and peripatetic music teachers. The Government should focus on recruiting, training and retaining them, and ensuring they have time in the curriculum and the support they need to turn the national plan for music education from fantasy into reality.

I have enough time to congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Debbonaire, on her magnificent speech in such a short time. I have now overrun.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Wilson of Sedgefield) (Lab)]

I respectfully say to noble Lords that we need to keep to the two-minute limit so that we have time for the Minister to respond.