Agenda item

Questions have been submitted to the Panel by Councillor Saskia Heijltjes and Councillor Joanna Wright.

Jon Gore, Orchestra of Everything has registered to make a statement.

Questions were submitted to the Panel by Councillor Saskia Heijltjes and Councillor Joanna Wright. A copy of this Q&A document is attached as an appendix to these minutes.

Jon Gore, Orchestra of Everything addressed the Panel, a summary of his statement is set out below.

He said that following his previous visit to the Panel in July he had been able to arrange for a number of music festival events to be held at St Michael’s Junior School, Twerton and was pleased to report increased resilience, confidence, and focus among the children who had taken part, with 86% showing a more positive attitude to learning.

He explained that a volunteer group was now also in place to attend the school every Wednesday to offer all pupils an opportunity to practice their chosen instrument.

He informed the Panel that the group had received a small amount of funding to begin work with Year 6 pupils at Roundhill Primary School, Southdown until the half term in February 2026.

He said that discussions were also ongoing with Youth Connect South West to begin a pilot local youth club for young people that had left St Michael’s.

He wished to express his thanks to The Roper Family Charitable Trust, Medlock Charitable Trust and Bath Rotary Club for their support and funding.

He stated that he was very hopeful of recruiting further volunteers at the Bath and North East Somerset Volunteer Fair that was due to be held on Friday 17^th October.

He said that he had also visited the Bath University Music Society regarding their potential involvement with the group, and that he planned to meet with Bath Spa University in the near future.

Councillor Liz Hardman said that his enthusiasm was inspiring and was pleased to hear that the work of the group had helped with the focus of a large number of pupils at the school. She added that she had passed on his details to the councillors for Twerton and Whiteway, Tim Ball and Sarah Moore, to see if they would be able to offer any support or funding for his work.

She asked if there was any possibility to expand the programme to other schools within B&NES.

Jon Gore replied that he had received requests from other schools, but said that at the present time the focus remains on the Primary Schools within Twerton, Whiteway and Southdown. He added that the intention was for Roundhill to follow the programme used at St Michael’s.

The Chair commented that as a councillor for Southdown she welcomed the group working with Roundhill Primary School. She added that the Council were awaiting further information for how £20m of government funding, as part of the Pride in Place programme, would be used in Twerton.

Councillor Bharat Pankhania asked if the group was linked to any work with Voices for Life.

Jon Gore replied that he was aware that Voices for Life were working with pupils in Year 4 at both St Michael’s and Roundhill. He added that he had raised whether it would be possible for those pupils to also receive a light touch programme from the Orchestra of Everything and planned to discuss the matter further with Tessa Armstrong (Executive Director, Voices for Life).

Councillor Pankhania stated that he had also worked with Tessa Armstrong regarding plans for a longitudinal study to evidence the impact of music interventions on young people.

The Chair said that she would welcome further updates to the Panel on this matter.