ABOUT

PORTSMOUTH MUSIC SERVICE

Aims

Portsmouth Music Service is committed to providing opportunities so that every child and young person can access high-quality musical learning and experiences, regardless of background, ability, circumstance, or starting point.

Our key aims are to:

  • Provide high-quality music education for all children and young people, supporting schools to deliver a broad, balanced, and ambitious music curriculum.

  • Enable all children and young people to sing, play, create, and perform music, through the provision of opportunities to foster creativity, confidence, wellbeing, and self-expression.

  • Provide high-quality performance and enrichment opportunities that inspire lifelong engagement with music and culture.

  • Ensure equity, inclusion, and accessibility, removing barriers to musical participation, actively supporting disadvantaged children and young people, those with SEND, and other underrepresented groups.

  • Maintain the highest standards of safeguarding and wellbeing, ensuring that all activity is safe, welcoming, and centred on the needs of children and young people.

  • Raise aspirations and attainment through music, by promoting music's contribution to personal development, learning, attendance, engagement, and wider educational outcomes. 

  • Promote musical progression and achievement, signposting clear pathways from first access through to specialist study, performance opportunities, and potential careers in music.

  • Support and develop the music education workforce through effective training, collaboration, mentoring, and continuous professional development.

  • Work collaboratively with schools, families, arts organisations, community partners, and the wider cultural sector to strengthen music education and musical engagement across Portsmouth.

Vision

Portsmouth Music Service believes that music has the power to transform lives so that every child and young person in Portsmouth has access to a rich, inclusive, and high-quality musical education, enabling them to develop their musical skills, creativity, confidence, and aspirations, and to experience the lifelong benefits of engagement with music.

We will achieve this by:

  • Working in close partnership with schools and educational settings to strengthen music provision, curriculum delivery, and musical outcomes across the city.

  • Providing inclusive and accessible opportunities for all children and young people, ensuring that individual needs, interests, and strengths are recognised and nurtured.

  • Creating vibrant musical communities, connecting children, young people, families, schools and cultural partners through shared musical experiences and performances.

  • Supporting progression for every learner, from early musical experiences through to advanced study, leadership opportunities, and potential professional pathways.

  • Championing diversity, equality, and inclusion, ensuring that every child and young person can see themselves reflected in the music they learn, create, and perform.

  • Using evidence, evaluation, and stakeholder feedback to continuously improve our services, ensuring they remain responsive to local need and national priorities.

  • Contributing to the wider priorities of Portsmouth City Council and the city, supporting educational achievement, health and wellbeing, social inclusion, cultural engagement, and community cohesion. 

The Team

Sue Beckett

Head of Portsmouth Music Service

Emily Horner

Business Manager

Paul Taylor

Digital Innovations Manager