Musical charity works with troubled youngsters

Traditional music is at the heart of a ground-breaking project which is teaching vital life skills to vulnerable young people and helping to increase their self-confidence and esteem.

Devon-based music charity Wren Music has been working with some of the region’s most troubled youngsters in the Music 4 Life programme.

The two-year project has had a major positive impact, according to teachers at the specialist schools and inclusion services that have taken part in north, east and central Devon. The programme runs in a series of five, weekly sessions with one course per term.

Music 4 Life is delivered by a team of Wren’s professional musicians and singers and is funded by the National Foundation for Youth Music. The project brings music to young people who would not otherwise have access to music lessons.

Wren musician David Faulkner, who heads the Music 4 Life programme, said: “They learn how to play a range of acoustic instruments including squeeze-boxes, guitars, mandolins, fiddles, autoharps and Dulzimers. They also learn about their voice, sing songs and learn how to sing in harmony.

“Song-writing is also a big part of the project. And perhaps the most challenging thing for the young people is making music together in a group.”

In Exeter, the Wren team has been working with Barley Lane School for youngsters with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, and Exeter and East Devon Education Inclusion Services. After their sessions with Wren, the young musicians from the Inclusion Services project performed at and held a workshop at the city’s WESC Foundation for children with visual impairment.

David Faulkner said the students learnt empathy from working with the young children. He said: “One student from the Inclusion project said that what he really enjoyed about it was watching the younger children having fun.

“It’s also fantastic that all the students from the Inclusion projects completed the Devon Youth Service Music Awards and students from other settings are working towards their Bronze Arts Awards. Having a real context for the learning that the young people do is brilliant.”

David said it was “very unusual if not unique” for a programme of this sort to be working with traditional music.

“We’ve found that the children are particularly engaged with learning how to play the instruments. One young lad said ‘it helps me to forget," he said

“Some of the traditional music is from the areas where they live. The tunes and musical structure are flexible so that we can adapt them straight away to each child’s needs and ability. The music is supposed to be learnt by ear and they get it instantly. We develop and progress the music from that point to extend their musical skills and enjoyment.

“They also write and record songs; some of them have written songs about their circumstances – it’s like an outlet for them.”

North Devon Personalised Learning Services (NDPLS) at Clearwater in Bideford is a referral unit for children of all ages who cannot access mainstream education, often due to permanent exclusion from schools across the North Devon area. Senior teacher Paul Morris said staff notice a difference in the children when they are taking part in the Music 4 Life sessions. He said: “They have very low self-esteem so for them to be able to achieve a skill so quickly is very powerful. This is one of the reasons they love it so much; they can pick up the tunes quite easily and this is important because they can see themselves becoming good at something very quickly."

“The younger students – the children aged 6-11 – love the sessions. It gives them the chance to explore their creativity and they really enjoy playing the traditional musical instruments.”

Without Wren’s visits, the youngsters would not have any music lessons. Support worker at NDPLS, Sophie Tyler, takes the Music 4 Life classes with Wren and says they have had a “huge impact” on the children. She said:

“One of our seven-year-old boys learned how to play the guitar and at the end of the five weeks he and the other children performed in a concert for parents, staff and other children. His dad came along and saw his son singing his heart out and playing the guitar and was so touched he bought his son a guitar and he’s now having lessons in his own time.

“He would not have had the opportunity to learn without Music 4 Life."

NDPLS senior teacher Elizabeth Biggs worked on the project until her retirement at Christmas. She said: “Music is a great leveller. They found something which was on the curriculum that they were good at and it made them feel proud. They also learnt team work, how to play music together and how to listen to each other.”

Marland School for young people with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties has also seen the positive impact the music sessions have had on students. The school has a residential site in Peters Marland in North Devon and a day centre at Springfield in Barnstaple. Ages range from 10-16.

Head of education, Mark Rendell, said: “It’s great to see them in a group setting and being able to be expressive – it’s like a joy to them.

“They are able to express the emotions and frustrations which underpin their challenging behaviours in a way they can’t express in other ways. We had one lad who had a percussion instrument that he’d bang and then holler, so it was ‘boom, boom, boom … holler, holler; boom, boom, boom … holler, holler’.

“So the Wren guys created a rhythm and sound from this that was a bit like The Pogues. The kids loved it. The Wren staff are very skilled in the way they work with the children. Whilst they’re working with Wren, they are very enthusiastic.”

Mark said the young people grow in self-confidence during the programme. He said: “Their self-esteem definitely increases. At the start of the programme they have zero musical skills; after just five, weekly sessions they can all play a recognisable tune. And it’s great to see them engage so well in the learning and with each other in a collaborative way.”

At the end of the programme, the youngsters get to perform in front of teachers, parents and children. Some also visit local schools for children with special educational needs (SEN), where they teach others how to play and share their new-found confidence, skills and enthusiasm.

“The self-confidence our young people get from this is unparalleled,” said Mark. “We can say to them ‘you’ve just done something wonderful’ and they can see that they have. It’s priceless. They get a feeling of self-worth which they don’t get very often. They also meet young children with different kind of problems and they develop an empathy; they realise there is a wide spectrum of need.”

One of the SEN schools visited by the youngsters from Marland and Springfield is Pathfield in Barnstaple, which has children with physical disabilities and special needs such as autism. Music co-ordinator Jenni Coats said the way the children helped each other was “beautiful”.

“When the youngsters come in with Wren, you can see they’re a little bit nervous. But then you see them relax and gain in confidence. The best bit is where they work with our very little ones, some of them are as young as four or five. Some of them can’t speak, some have physical disabilities and some have autism. But the way these older children relate to them is just beautiful. We pair them up, so that each of the visiting children gets to teach one of our little ones. It’s lovely to see them being so gentle and patient with them.”

The programme, which has reached vulnerable young people of all school ages, comes to an end this summer but Okehampton-based Wren Music hopes to continue the work. David said: “We’ve seen the positive impact that music has made for these young people who had not been able to access it until now.

“And it’s becoming more and more documented that children succeeding in music has a knock-on effect in other areas of life, so we would like to extend the project and work with more people in Music 4 Life.”

To find out more about Wren Music visit www.wrenmusic.co.uk