OHMI Music-Makers extends to three new areas

More disabled children than ever are being offered the opportunity to participate in music-making following the extension of the OHMI Music-Makers Whole Class Programme to a further three areas in England. The programme is now being delivered by The OHMI Trust in Central Bedfordshire, Southampton and Liverpool and has been made possible with Arts Council England National Lottery Project funding. Its aim is to offer parity of access to music-making for disabled children in Whole Class music lessons in schools.

Rachel Wolffsohn, General Manager at The OHMI Trust, explains the process,

“The needs of a disabled student are not always apparent so our first step is to uncover and assess individual needs as part of an analysis conducted before lessons begin. We then choose the instrument or equipment to match, as closely as possible, the instrument being taught to the rest of the class. The music service and teacher are then supported to include the child with a physical impairment alongside their peers.

 

“The OHMI Music-Makers programme is well established but lack of funding presents a barrier to wider rollout. We’re delighted that Arts Council England recognises the value of the service and will enable us to deliver our support to disabled young music-makers through Resonate in Liverpool, Southampton Music Hub and Inspiring Music.”

Inspiring Music, the music service for Central Bedfordshire Council and lead partner of the Music Hub, applied to be part of the OHMI Music-Makers programme following CPD training facilitated by OHMI last December.

Mark Lowe, Music Inclusion Manager at Inspiring Music in Bedfordshire, explains how participating in OHMI Music-Makers is a natural next step for their music service,

“We are extremely excited to be working in partnership with OHMI on this project. Once we undertook OHMI’s CPD training, It became instantly clear that OHMI had the experience, skills, understanding and structure to allow us to embed the support required to provide accessible instruments for children and young people who are physically disabled.

 

“We now strongly believe that this partnership, together with our Head Start Whole Class Approach, will allow us to provide more equitable, inclusive and accessible musical opportunities, as the children and young people we engage with can flourish in becoming the musicians they want to become.”

More information on OHMI Music-Makers is available at: www.ohmi.org.uk/ohmi-music-makers.html