The National Schools Singing Programme celebrates its second anniversary and a landmark expansion

Students taking part in a whole class singing lesson at Christ the King Catholic Primary School in Leeds [Credit: Diocese of Leeds]

The National Schools Singing Programme [NSSP], an ambitious music education initiative covering the majority of the UK’s Catholic dioceses and supported by £4 million in funding from the Hamish Ogston Foundation, has recently celebrated its second birthday and welcomed its first group of Anglican cathedrals to the scheme. This is a major expansion of the programme which will give thousands more state school children across the UK the opportunity for a deep and continuing engagement with music.

The NSSP is widely regarded as the UK’s leading choral education programme, offering funding to religious institutions across the UK, from Portsmouth to Aberdeen, to employ choral directors, who deliver whole-class singing sessions in schools every week.

The aim of the NSSP is to combat declining availability of specialist music lessons for children at state schools, particularly those in the most socially marginalised and economically deprived areas, and to provide pathways for musically talented young people to go on to attend some of the country's leading universities and conservatoires. 27 of the UK’s 32 Catholic dioceses are now signed up to the NSSP, in a programme that now engages more than 175 schools and over 17,000 children every week.

Until now, funding by the NSSP was only available to Catholic dioceses in the UK, but with this latest expansion of the scheme, funding has now been awarded to six Anglican cathedrals. Cathedrals in Sheffield, Derby, Leicester, Liverpool and Newcastle, plus York Minster, will now join the scheme as the NSSP enters its third year. These cathedrals have been selected so that the programmes can reach the most deprived regions of the country, bringing a musical education to those least likely to receive it. This latest expansion, which [in a programme first] includes non-denominational schools, means an anticipated total of 20,000 children will benefit from participation in the scheme, at over 200 schools nationally.

Beyond supporting disadvantaged children, the rewards of a good music education are plentiful: it benefits mental health, supports social cohesion, and furthers academic attainment. Widening access to the UL’s choral music industry is also essential for preserving the future of our oldest living cultural heritage.

The Bradford Catholic Youth Choir, part of the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme, performing live for BBC Radio 4’s programme, Sunday Worship, in December 2022. Conducted by former music scholar at the Diocese of Leeds Music and later graduate of Cambridge University as an organ scholar, Caius Lee. @St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bradford, Leeds [Credit: Diocese of Leeds] 

The latest step forward was formally celebrated as the NSSP held its second annual conference at the Diocese of Leeds HQ, Hinsley Hall. Delegates from participating dioceses and cathedrals across the UK discussed developments in the NSSP Music Curriculum, best practice in safeguarding children in choirs, teaching and classroom management, recruitment, and ambitions for the future of the NSSP.

To learn more about our music initiatives, please visit: http://bit.ly/3In5akW  .

 Read more about the expansion in The Times here and The Yorkshire Post here.