Our work is currently focused on three junior schools in Bath – St Michael’s Junior Church School, St Andrew’s Church School and Roundhill Primary School. Overall, more than 250 children currently enjoy free music lessons with the Orchestra of Everything Foundation. (July 2025)

At St Michael’s we provide recorder or ukulele lessons for every child in Year 3 to Year 6, as well as offering tuition on a second instrument, which 80% of pupils have chosen to do. These individual or small group classes give children the opportunity to learn a range of instruments, from drums and guitar to violin and flute.

We also run after-school and lunchtime practice clubs, and have set up small ensembles for pupils to experience playing in a group. There are also booster sessions available for any children who might need extra support.

At St Andrew’s we offer lessons to a smaller group of children, giving them the opportunity to play music together. Meanwhile, at Roundhill Primary we’ve recently started whole-class recorder lessons for Year 3 to Year 6.

At every school, we work closely with staff to get to know each child individually, responding to their changing needs. Our curriculum has been designed by a secondary school head of music, building a journey from beginner to beyond.

Teachers and parents have told us that since OOEF’s tuition started, classroom engagement is up, behaviour interventions are down, and that children who previously avoided school can’t wait for ‘music day’.  At St Michaels, we've been told 86% of children have an improved attitude to learning because of the music - increased confidence, focus and resilience.

In recognition of this astonishing impact, we're allowed to take children out of other lessons (including maths!) not just for their music lessons but to practise their instrument

As our first cohort of children move into secondary school, we aim to continue our work with them and are currently (July 2025) exploring ways to do this through volunteer-run youth clubs.  Avon & Somerset Police Early Intervention Team have visited, seen how happy and focused the children are, and want us to work with them, with the 11+ age group.

ITV came in to film us during June - here is their video

https://www.itv.com/watch/news/orchestra-of-everything-foundation-the-bath-charity-helping-underprivileged-children-learn-music/c40cn8y

You can find out more at our website - www.ooef.org.uk

We are in need of an army of volunteers to help us run music clubs after school, during holidays and as youth groups, and to be "practise buddies", going into school in the same way as you might to listen to a child practise reading, but here you would be giving the children a chance to do 5-10 minutes practise on their instrument.