Save East Renfrewshire Music Service

Keep the arts alive in our schools. Children need access to a broad range of free quality activities. Learning an instrument is one of the best.

Save the Service.

The lack of support for education in Scotland is appalling! Youngsters are being starved by a lack of resources, (both in terms of staffing and in terms of physical resources to enhance learning). It's no wonder that standards are falling, in real and relative terms.

Why would you take music away from our young people. Music is not a privilege and should not be accessible for only those who can afford it. If you have no tuition in your primaries you will destroy your music service. Shameful.

Cutting instrumental music in the primary sector would be the beginning of the end for this invaluable service. Our primary kids should be exposed to music as a subject from primary one. Are counsellors not aware of the holistic benefits of music?

Please please please realise the value of music education and protect this vital service.

We must resist this miscalculation by local authorities who don’t seem to realise the very solution to better attainment lies within young people playing an instrument. It’s time to stop this now!!

The music service is a vital part in education and must be secured. Read the volumes of research and study into the benefits of playing a musical instrument and you would soon realise it's the key to better mental health, better behaviour and discipline, better academic results as well as adding to creative arts. The research crosses cultures too and has been proven worldwide. If any change should be made it should be to be invest and expand the service.

The music service is a vital part in education and must be secured. Read the volumes of research and study into the benefits of playing a musical instrument and you would soon realise it's the key to better mental health, better behaviour and discipline, better academic results as well as adding to creative arts. The research crosses cultures too and has been proven worldwide. If any change should be made it should be to be invest and expand the service.

My family was in no way musical and because of East Renfrewshire Music Service I was introduced to the joys of making music and I have now made a life and career in the field. I dread to think how many would miss out on the amazing opportunities I exprienced if the service were to be cut now.

Please consider what you have built up over all these years and the impact it has had on every child involved. Don't throw it away in an instance. Primary school is crucial to fundamental musical development and although you don't have exams to mark what is achieved it is far more valuable than the later years and provides a strong foundation for many skills which will influence all areas of a child's education.

You want to close the attainment gap and yet, here you are trying to demolish one of the greatest bridges towards doing just that. Music is not elitist until YOU make it so. Music is everything. It is in every subject, it is a common language. By doing this, you’re depriving people of their livelihoods but more, you’re depriving hundreds, if not thousands of children to their right to a musical education which is PROVEN to benefit every other area of their education. Wake up!!!!

This is a short sighted and disgraceful proposal. There are multiple papers and reports including those led by the Scottish Government, recognising the importance of early intervention in young people's access to high quality music education. By cutting the Music Service at Primary level you will severely disadvantage the education of young learners and their future opportunities. Music education has, time again, proved its benefits to children's academic and emotional development. Furthermore to increase group numbers in lessons at secondary level (for non SQA candidates) limits the individual attention a teacher can dedicate to each learner , thus lower the quality of tuition an instrumental teacher can deliver. When quality is reduced then parents will take their money elsewhere, reducing the council's income revenue from instrumental tuition. How is this a good business model? In turn, this will reduce the number choosing to progress to SQA music courses. With the reduction in classroom assistants and large class sizes across Scotland how are class teachers expected to give the required (and deserving) individual attention to all students. It is often the instrumental teacher who has this opportunity to deliver this and support students in their learning. Instrumental music teachers prepare students for their performance strand of SQA music subjects. A core strand to the subject, thy are therefore not "extra-curricular" staff.

How sad that east ren are considering this.

Extremely disappointing if this goes ahead. I am proud to say I've come from east renfrewshire music dept!!!!

Cuts to music must stop. Our government knows the widly documented benefits of instrumental music learning up take and its contribution to attainment and local communities and wider society.

I went through East Renfrewshire Music Service from age of 5 upwards and without it I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. It's a joke that councils think they can cut the music services because it's the easiest. Well reminder that music probably brings most money into councils through concerts and events!!

If you cut primary teaching, you cut off the supply of pupils in secondary. Only an ignorant idiot would suggest such a plan.