West Sussex Music launches into its Easter holiday music activities

Spokeswoman Sarah Ryan said: “West Sussex Music has been busy delivering holiday activity workshops with partners NextGen Music to teens during the school holidays.

Helped by funding from West Sussex County Council’s Holiday Activities and Food Scheme (HAF), these workshops were made free to those aged 11-16 in receipt of free school meals or with refugee status. Each attendee receives a free hot nutritious meal for lunch as well as fully immersive practical workshops during the day with professionals from the music industry.”

Deen Nauthoa, CEO of NextGen Music, said: “Students who were a little shy to begin with, were confidently sharing and discussing their creations by the end of the first day. Being together and collaborating with their peers in a creative environment offers children the opportunity to express themselves in a judgment-free zone and to learn how to work effectively with one another.

“It was important for us to deliver the best possible experience for the children; we wanted to ensure that the students left inspired and eager to continue creating after the workshops were finished. In truth, I think the students inspired us just as much as we did them. Their approach to creativity was so unrestrained and free flowing; you could see just how much fun they were having with the process, and their focus levels were astounding, there was no stopping them!”

Louie Le Vack, associate tutor at West Sussex Music, said: “Students were also given the opportunity to create a video to accompany the music they produced. The shots in the video were imagined by the students, and the song and lyrics have been created and produced entirely by the students themselves.”

Now thoughts are turning to Easter.

“Over the Easter holidays, we’re thrilled to have secured more funding to engage with even more young people and get them involved in developing their music-making. We have extended our activities and are pleased to offer teens the following activities:

Crawley – DJ Workshops (April 3-5 at Thomas Bennett Community College; Littlehampton – Rap and Music Production Workshops (April 3-5) at The Littlehampton Academy; and Bognor Regis – Rap Workshops (April 11-13 at The Regis Centre

“What’s more, we’re opening our offer to make these activities available to more teens. We still have free spaces for those on free school meals and half-price spaces available for families in receipt of other benefits, but we are also offering paid spaces for those who don’t fit into this category. Find out more and sign up at https://www.westsussexmusic.co.uk/holidayactivities/”

West Sussex Music provides high-quality inclusive music education and performance opportunities for all children and young people across the county. We work with partner organisations, schools, young people, and stakeholders from different sectors to develop our collective vision for accessible and inspirational music education.

“We ensure schools have access to quality-assured music practitioners that can provide instrumental lessons, whole-class first access programmes, lunchtime and after school music activities, workshops, singing projects, and continuing professional development for teaching staff. We help schools to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils, their families, and the community.”