Benjamin Saunders, Lead Consultant for the National Schools Singing Programme writes:

“It is an abdication of responsibility simply to blame “the government of the day” for the paucity of music in many UK state schools. For generations, we – the Catholic Church – have been a patron of the arts, a leader in education and champion of the poor. A musical partnership between dioceses and schools can create something that is both value for money and valued in a shared mission.

Our schools share in the task of evangelisation: quenching that thirst in every human soul for beauty, truth and goodness which is never more powerful than when we reach together for the transcendent in sacred song.

I lead the National Schools Singing Programme, which was created in 2021 by a transformative grant of £4.9m from the Vinehill Trust to share the UK’s preeminent choral tradition with thousands of children in state schools across the country. Based on a model originated, developed and refined in the Diocese of Leeds over two decades, we provide all Catholic dioceses with seed funding and the ‘know-how’ to begin their own Schools Singing Programmes.

Under the patronage of Sir John Rutter, we engage 37,000 children in 425 schools across 35 UK dioceses and cathedrals in whole-class curriculum singing and after-school choirs each week. To carry out this work we have created more than 70 full-time Choral Director roles. Our focus is on excellence in classroom delivery, especially in marginalised communities, with clear musical transition routes for boys and girls from ages 7 to 18.

Taking singing in faith schools seriously provides children from diverse backgrounds with a chance to excel together in a communal cultural activity, uniting in song, deepening their Catholic faith, and encountering beauty and joy in a world that can often seem devoid of both.”

Read more from the Catholic Union here.