School Music Development Fund

Schools in Wiltshire can apply for grants of up to £500 for music projects / activity that will take place before the end of July 2024.

Criteria
Proposals must aim to achieve at least one of the following things:

Explore the potential of digital music making
Increase the inclusivity of music provision
Develop a new open access Music Club (making use of our free online resource)
Actively encourage youth voice in a music context
Opportunities for pupils to experience live music performance

In your application you will need to specify which of the above aims your proposed activity will address. You will also need to clearly explain how the proposed activity will ‘develop’ the music provision in your school and how it relates to your School Music Development Plan. For example, if you are applying for funds to bring a string quartet into school for a performance, you will need to explain how this will support your music curriculum and how the pupils will benefit.

In your application, please provide enough information for us to understand your project fully. A one-sentence description is not likely to be enough. If you do not provide enough information then we will ask you for more details – or we may not be able to assess your application.

There are no restrictions on which Wiltshire state-funded schools can apply – you can make an application even if your school has received funding from us before, but we will be prioritising schools who did not receive a grant through the School Music Development Fund last year.

Deadline for applications: Monday 27 November, 12 noon.

There is no requirement for match funding unless you are applying for funds to cover the cost of purchasing music equipment – we will only fund 50% of the full cost of any such equipment and so in your application you will need to explain where the other 50% will come from.

Please refer to the list below of things that we are unable to fund. If you request funding for one of the things on this list then your application will be ineligible.

If you are unsure whether or not your proposal is eligible, please email us in advance of the deadline to check – sophie.amstell@wiltshiremusicconnect.org.uk

(Please note that it may take up to 72 hours to receive a response, so please do not leave it too late.)

We will not fund:

The cost of cleaning, cleaning products or PPE
The cost of a Charanga Music School licence (because we already subsidise the cost of Charanga for Wiltshire schools)
Anything that your school already has a statutory obligation to provide
Things that your school has previously provided but has now decided not to pay for anymore
Coach travel to and from performances / music events

Make an application here

Use the links below to find out how other schools have this fund to support music over the past two years.

Summary of grants to schools in 2021-22

Summary of grants to schools in 2022-23

How have other schools used our grants?

"At our school we used our grant to bring in a professional musician to play a range of recorders to our year 4 children, who were in the process of learning the recorder themselves. The children loved it as many had not listened to live music being performed before and had no idea that a recorder could even be played to the standard it was! It was particularly enjoyable to see our pupil premium students gain so much enjoyment from the experience."
Jane Keenan
Harnham Junior School

"We were able to invite in Music for Miniatures for an afternoon of discovery and fun. The company was very flexible and we were able to have musicians giving a demonstration of some classical orchestral instruments, complete with fun and some very familiar pieces. All our children were exposed to a style of music and range of instruments they were unfamiliar with. They were able to build on their musical knowledge from the classroom curriculum teaching - appreciating how music conveys and changes emotional responses and joining in with rhythm and beat in a range of formats."
Dominy Jones
Holy Trinity CE Primary Academy, Great Cheverell