TIMMS WELCOMES THE NEW MUSIC AND DANCE SCHEME - MUSIC ETC

4 Mar 2002 10:44 AM

Has your child the potential to be the next Nigel Kennedy or Darcey Bussell? The Government funded Music and Ballet scheme has provided thousands of children with the funding they need to reach excellence. From today the scheme is available to even more children and has a new name and vision.

Schools Minister Stephen Timms today introduced the modernised 'Music and Dance Scheme and welcomed the Hammond School of Dance as the eighth independent, specialist school to participate in the scheme.

Speaking today at the Society of Heads of Independent Schools (SHMIS) conference in Grantham, Stephen Timms said:

"The modernised Music and Dance Scheme provides our talented children with world- class training as part of a broad and balanced education - regardless of their personal circumstances.

"The new scheme incorporates contemporary needs and perspectives on dance training and also reflects a new vision for the scheme which seeks to attract an even wider pool of potential talent.

"I am also pleased to announce that the Hammond School of Dance in Chester will be participating in the scheme. It is the fourth dance school in England to become a member of the scheme. The school will be able to offer five aided places per year from this coming September for more of our talented young dancers."

The Music and Dance scheme will have its own website at the end of March. The address will be: www.dfes.gov.uk/mds.

NOTES TO EDITORS

This Press Notice applies to England.

1. Photo Opportunities and interviews with pupils at the Royal Ballet School and the Yehudi Menuhin School can be arranged if you contact the Department for Education and Skills press office. The press office can also provide quotes and interviews with Schools Minister Stephen Timms and Roger Lewis - The Managing Director of Classic fm.

2. The Music and Ballet Scheme was established in 1981 and enables exceptionally talented children to have access to a good academic education alongside the best specialist music and ballet training available. Parents receive means-tested help with the tuition and boarding fees at seven (eight from September 2002) independent specialist schools in England. A sub-set of the MBS - the Choir Schools Scholarship Scheme - was set up in 1991 with block grant paid to the Choir Schools' Association Bursary Trust for the assistance of Choristers at Cathedral and Collegiate Choir Schools in England.

3. There are currently three MDS specialist ballet schools - The Royal Ballet School, London; the Arts Educational School, Tring, Hertfordshire; and Elmhurst School (SHMIS) for Dance and Performing Arts, Camberley, Surrey. The Hammond School of Dance, Chester will join the scheme from September 2002. There are four MDS specialist music schools - Chetham's School of Music, Manchester; The Yehudi Menuhin School (SHMIS), Stoke d'Abernon Surrey; The Purcell School (SHMIS), Bushey, Hertfordshire and Wells Cathedral School, Somerset.

4. Nearly 800 children are currently helped through the scheme at a total annual cost of £12million (which covers boarding and intensive specialist training as well as a good academic schooling).

5. Music and Dance Scheme Advisory Group

In 2000, Estelle Morris established an Advisory Group for the scheme, chaired by Roger Lewis, MD and Programme Controller at Classic fM, to advise on the scheme's future operation and development. The Group now has 16 members drawn from the music, dance and performing arts fields and from business including celebrated violinist Tasmin Little, Dr Janet Ritterman, Principal of the Royal College of Music and Mrs Brenda Garratt Glassman, Ballet teacher and Senior Ballet Assessor at Trinity College, London.

The Advisory Group's First Report (for 2000/01) was submitted to Ministers in September 2001. All of its four recommendations were accepted:

i - that the Department and key stakeholders adopt a clear Statement of Objectives for the scheme, the vision being "Access to Excellence"

ii - in order to address the issues of access and disparity in provision and the need for alternative approaches, that the Department should investigate and pilot different models for music and dance which will provide support, through the MDS, for exceptionally talented children (this work is ongoing)

iii - adopting a strategy to heighten and enhance awareness of the scheme by parents, teachers, pupils and the general public (including through an internet strategy); and

iv - to more accurately reflect contemporary needs and perspectives while keeping the focus on ballet training as a core discipline, that the scheme be re-named the Music and Dance Scheme.

6. Any one who wants to find out more about the scheme can also contact Karl Bowes at: Department for Education and Skills, Grant Schemes Team, Music and Dance Scheme, Mowden Hall, Darlington, Co Durham, DL3 9BG, Tel: 01325 391181.Fax: 01325 391148 (e- mail: karl.bowes@dfes.gsi.gov.uk)

PRESS ENQUIRIES:
Geraldine Wahlantantri 0207 925 5111
Jill Chesworth 0207 925 5721

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info@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

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