Signposting young people to music activities in London
As the national debate about music education continues, more coherent and focused needs are emerging. The importance of bringing together the different sectors and putting a young person at the heart of their own music education is being identified as key.

The choices these different sectors can offer a young person along their journey of music education can swing from being over to under-whelming depending on where you live, your interests and how you want to interact with the opportunities. It is this issue that Sound Connections working with Musical Futures hope to tackle through Musical routes.

Musical Routes is a simple idea
Musical Routes is a simple idea that has potential for a great impact. By listing on our website all music providers within an area, young people (or parents, teachers, youth workers, etc.) can search for those that fit with their own interests. Communication is then made and bingo, a music route has started or is progressed.

By adding Advisors to particular areas this signposting takes on an even more personalised focus. Advisors are proactive in engaging with young people, or those that work with them, to start a conversation about needs and ambitions. By Advisors going into schools and offering advice and guidance teachers are able to provide this broader local knowledge through an independent source without increasing their own workload.

The combination of Musical Routes website and Advisors local knowledge creates a map of activity and resources that covers all styles, genres and ways of learning. By cascading the knowledge through Advisors to teachers, youth workers and young people the information travels further and gets to those it is intended for – if a query is made that can’t be answered immediately we are able to take the time to find out and come back later with the information, a fundamental role.

As for the providers they are able to benefit from this in several ways. The most obvious is the additional marketing that is done on their behalf as one of many working together to open up the marketplace of provision. By using the resource themselves there is more structured and consistent understanding of each other’s activities and so progression routes for young people are being identified and used.

As the potential for Musical Routes becomes clearer the lessons we are learning from this pilot is crucial. If young people are to be able to personalise their education whilst being supported by those with the knowledge and information to keep this journey moving, Musical Routes must be an obvious tool to deliver these needs.

Nicky Pleming

Project Manger
Sound Connections

http://www.musicalroutes.co.uk/

http://sound-connections.org.uk