OUR MEMBERS

Each year, B:Music connect over 18,000 young people and adults to a world of music and performance.

Key Stage 1: Introduce your students to live music with a FREE pop-up performance at school. 

Key Stage 2: Challenge your pupils with an interactive performance, with live music from one of England’s finest historical instruments, at Birmingham’s historic landmark venue, Town Hall. Town Hall History Hunt is a partnership with Needless Allies Theatre Collective, available termly.

Key Stages 3 and 4, A Level and BTEC Music: Motivate students to pursue careers in the arts with this range of complementary activities, available when you attend a Birmingham Classical concert. Whether a pre-concert talks, meeting the musicians, a Q&A with the Artistic Programming Team or a session on marketing the concert series, these interactive add-ons are guaranteed to inspire a creative mind.

Key Stage 2: Join a team of musicians, technicians and a science specialist as the world-renowned Symphony Hall is transformed into an interactive sound laboratory. The Science of Sound occurs termly.

11-19 Year Olds:  The Jazzlines Ensembles provide young musicians from Birmingham and the surrounding areas with the opportunity to play in an ensemble. These talented young people learn about jazz and improvisation through regular workshops and masterclass sessions. The sessions are open to young musicians of all abilities, from beginners to advanced and are free to young musicians aged between 11 and 19.

Under 30s: Tickets for just £5 are available at every Birmingham Classical Season concert. 

Book online here.

BCU provides professional training for Teachers in Early Years, Primary, Secondary and Post Graduate levels as well as undertakes education research.

Professor Martin Fautley is the representative for Music Education specialising in assessment. BCU continue to evaluate and inform the quality of BMEH activity.

Find out more here.

BCMG Learn & Take Part

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is one of Europe’s leading new music ensembles. We have commissioned over 200 new works from living composers since our foundation in 1987. Since 2000, our learning programme, BCMG Learn & Take Part, has focussed on supporting young people to compose in and out of school, commissioning new music for youth and non-professional ensembles through our Flourish! project, presenting concerts for school and family audiences, and creating an extensive online library of digital learning resources. In 2024, BCMG won ‘Excellence in Primary/Early Years’ at the annual Music & Drama Awards for its project Listen Imagine Compose Primary.

Schools:

BCMG offers composing workshops for primary and secondary classes, composer residencies and professional development for teachers. Though we can provide one-off and short-term projects, our preference is to build long term relationships with schools. Recently, much of this work has been done through our Listen Imagine Compose Primary Project funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. The first phase of this project saw professional composers working in 5 primary schools in Birmingham and 3 in Bristol over 2 years following 480 children from Year 4 to Year 5. Our CPD offers, developed as a result of LICP can be found HERE. We also have an extensive set of digital resources which can be found HERE including our recently published Listen Imagine Compose Primary Toolkit. Listen Imagine Compose resources focussed on improving the teaching and learning of composing at KS3, 4 & 5 can be found HERE.

Weekend workshops:

BCMG has a year-round programme of weekend composing and creative music workshops for young people at CBSO Centre. Workshops are free (with an optional donation), but places must be booked in advance.

• Music Maze: monthly creative music-making workshops for children (KS2) inspired by music, themes and ideas from BCMG’s concerts. Led by BCMG Director of Learning Nancy Evans and BCMG musicians.
• BCMG Young Composers: series of 4 weekend workshops over a term in which young people (KS3) compose for two BCMG musicians, led by composer Kirsty Devaney (Royal College of Music).
• Creative Composing Lab: termly day-long workshops for young people (KS4&5) to compose for three BCMG musicians, guided by composer David Horne (Royal Northen College of Music).

Listen to and watch music composed by young people participating in our programme HERE.

www.bcmg.org.uk

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“You only have to spend 5 minutes with an Ex Cathedra vocal tutor and you’ll want to sing!”  Howard Goodall CBE, Ambassador for the national singing programme, Sing Up 2007 – 11

Ex Cathedra has an award-winning education and participation programme working across Birmingham, the UK and internationally. The education and participation work has developed to become a leader in its field.

Every year we work with tens of thousands of children and young people and their families, train hundreds of teachers, work in partnership with music hubs across the UK, travel internationally, and present to and engage people in singing at many events in many settings.

Our Education Team is passionate about engaging people in life enhancing, accessible, meaningful and enjoyable singing activities, bringing the wider well-being benefits of singing to participants, and developing vocal skills and musicianship.

The team writes its own dynamic repertoire for participants’ teaching and learning aims, needs and enjoyment.

Ex Cathedra’s education and participation work falls into 4 areas and we also design projects in response to requests and partner needs.

1. Schools and education settings

Singing Playgrounds: whole school child-led initiative; SingMaker: concert hall events with complementary teacher training and resources; Singing Connections: singing games for word and number play development.

2. Healthcare settings

Singing Medicine: singing play for well-being for children in hospital; Singing Pathways for adults who have had a stroke and dementia

3. Community settings

A range of one-off devised projects; and Ladywood Community Choir

4. Academy of Vocal Music – 4 choirs for children aged between 4 and 18 years.

Children’s Academy 1, Children’s Academy 2, Junior Academy, Senior Girls Academy, Senior Boys Academy

Find out more here.

Quench Arts is a Community Interest Company working across the West Midlands. We are passionate about making a positive difference through the arts and our vision is that everyone should have access to high quality participatory arts opportunities.

Our work focuses on 2 areas:

• Our own projects use music to make a real difference to people’s lives, nurturing artistic talent in areas where opportunities may be limited.
• We also support other organisations in developing their community arts practice.

Find out more here.

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MAC is a multi-art form arts centre with a strong commitment to arts for everyone, especially those for whom engagement in the arts is new.

MAC Makes Music is an award-winning programme providing innovative music making opportunities for children and young people with limited access to music provision.

We work with Families, Pupil Referral Units, Charities, Primary Schools, SEND and SEMH schools, Children’s Services, Centres for Newly Arrived Children and Young People and Resource Bases/Focus Provisions to influence sustained music making activity for those with limited access to music provision.

Our passion is to offer young people high quality music making experiences led by a team of highly experienced music leaders. The young person’s voice and creativity is at the heart of the diverse music programme that we offer. Young people are encouraged to express themselves through song writing, singing, band development, new music technology and music production.

MAC is a strategic partner of Youth Music working towards creating a musically inclusive England, where every child can access music-making opportunities, regardless of their circumstances in and out of their control. Through MAC Makes Music, we champion innovation and inclusion in music making approaches We support workforce development and advocate for equality in music education in partnership with Music Education Hubs in Birmingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Solihull and Worcestershire.

To learn more about what we do, please visit: MAC Makes Music | Midlands Arts Centre (macbirmingham.co.uk)

For any specific enquiries, please email: macmakesmusic@macbirmingham.co.uk

For many years, there have been a growing network of partners who work with the hub to deliver or commission activity. Our challenge is to shape and manage the quality of outputs within these many partnerships.

They encompass a range of local, regional and national partners. They are almost exclusively ‘music education’ partners. Our scope within the Cultural Education Challenge will undoubtedly seek to work with a broader range of multi art form partners.

On 25^th June 2022, the Department for Education (DfE) published the updated National Plan for Music Education, entitled ‘The Power of Music to Change Lives’. The updated plan builds on the first plan published back in 2011. The 84-document contains three main chapters, each focusing on one of the three central aims of the plan. The refreshed Plan does not have a set of Core and Extension Roles for Music Hubs to deliver, but highlights the importance of providing access to a broad musical culture.

The vision for Music Hub partnerships, in line with the overall NPME, is to enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally. Underpinning this vision, Music Hub partnerships will be expected to focus on the following three aims.

• Support schools and other education settings to deliver high-quality music education.
• Support all children and young people to engage with a range of musical opportunities both in and out of school.
• Support young people to develop their musical interests and talent further, including into employment.

The current National Plan For Music Education (published in 2011) outlines four core and three extension roles that all hubs are required to deliver as a condition of their funding from the Department for Education which is administered through Arts Council England and the funding for this plan along with the Core and Extension roles is in place until 31^st March 2023.

HLO Policy – Commissioning

To be successful in achieving its aims and objectives, the Birmingham Music Hub delivers a wide range of activities in conjunction with, or through, a number of carefully selected partner organisations. The partnership approach is fundamental to ensuring that the Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) is able to maximise the capacity and reach of Hub activities, alongside maximising the utilisation of the grant funding for the benefit of our local communities.

This policy outlines the procedures and principles by which the HLO will appoint and secure partners and services, under the oversight of the HLO Board. It ensures transparency, accountability and value for money in the commissioning process to support the delivery of the Hub’s programme of activities.

Definitions

“HLO”                           
The Hub Lead Organisation for Birmingham is Services For Education (SFE). The point of contact for the HLO is Richard Mabbott, Head of Music Service.

“SFE Board”                
The main Board of Trustees for SFE, who are responsible for and oversee SFE’s role as ACE fund holder and the organisation’s wider activities, including the SFE Music Services’ traded and charitable work.

“HLO Board”                
The independent Board that works with the HLO to monitor and oversee the Hub’s programme of activity and allocation of funding in order to achieve the Hub’s agreed objectives, in line with ACE funding requirements. The HLO Board is not a sub-committee of the SFE Board, although two SFE trustees will normally be members of the HLO Board (along with relevant members of SFE’s Senior Leadership team) in order to ensure alignment of understanding and decision making between the two separate governing entities.

“Hub”                            
The Birmingham Music Education Hub

“Hub partner”               
An organisation awarded a partnership agreement by the Hub for the delivery of one or more elements of the Hub programme of activities.

“SFE Music Service”   
Services For Education’s Music Service is one of the partner organisations delivering the Hub programme of activities. Hub activity delivered by SFE’s Music Service is managed by one or more members of the Music Leadership Team, reporting in to the Head of Music Service.

Identifying partners

As an established Hub (since 2013), a number of partnership arrangements are already in place as at 1 September 2024. The existing arrangements will continue as previously agreed until such time as the current partnership agreement expires or comes up for review, subject to ongoing quality and performance monitoring. On expiry or review, the commissioning process set out below will apply to future renewals of partnership agreements.

Support for the Hub’s strategic functions will be provided by Services For Education, as part of its role as HLO and fund holder. There is no requirement for these to be procured separately.

Reviewing and identifying opportunities for partnerships

On a [six] monthly cycle, normally in [April] and [October] each year, the HLO Board will review the requirements of the Hub’s programme of activity and priorities in the coming [six to twelve] months. This review will consider and identify initiatives, activities or other opportunities to deliver the Hub’s agreed SMART objectives and agree their relative urgency/priority for action in accordance with the latest needs analysis. The HLO will take appropriate steps to promote these initiatives, activities and opportunities to a range of suitable potential partner organisations and invite discussion from interested parties.

Suitable potential partners may already be known to the HLO and/or its partner organisations. In other cases, potential partners may be sourced through the Hub’s wider network and/or encouraged to apply to the HLO to be considered to participate in, support or deliver these opportunities. Where appropriate, opportunities may be advertised through relevant channels to attract the widest and most diverse interest possible. When advertising for, selecting and appointing potential partner organisations, the HLO and the HLO Board will take every opportunity to ensure that good practice is followed regarding Diversity & Inclusion, in order to ensure that the Hub’s membership, at all levels, is representative of the communities we serve and can appropriately meet its needs.

Potential partners will be provided with details of the initiative, activity or opportunity available, including the desired outcomes and delivery timescale. Potential partners will be asked to provide the HLO with a proposal setting out:

• how they would resource delivery of the initiative, activity or opportunity
• how it would be organised and delivered, and over what time period
• the associated costs, set out in a suitably detailed budget
• how the activity would be (a) quality assured during delivery and (b) its impact assessed on completion

Where several partners submit proposals for the same initiative or activity, the HLO will consider their respective suitability based on criteria such as: track record of previous delivery of activity for the Hub, specialism(s) that are required for the initiative or activity, and experience of working with the audience(s) the activity is intended to support.

Promoting partnership opportunities

The HLO will use its extensive and established professional and partner network to keep abreast of the musical activities taking place within Birmingham. Guided by the Hub’s agreed strategic objectives for the coming year, and informed by the latest needs analysis, the HLO will take reasonable steps to extend its network and promote the opportunities for partnership with the Hub to maximise the reach and impact of the grant funding.

Reviewing and renewing partnerships

As part of the regular six-monthly review process, the HLO Board will review the impact that activity is having on the strategic objectives and assess the extent to which the activity is delivering a positive return on investment. Where it is identified that an activity is not having the desired impact, the HLO Board will request the HLO work with the partner organisation to take remedial action.

Where the review identifies gaps in delivery against the strategic objectives, the HLO Board will request that the HLO source and secure suitable partner organisations to close the identified gap to deliver the strategic aim(s).

This review will be taken into account as part of the decision making process for commissioning further work with that partner organisation in future years.

Commissioning process

The HLO is very conscious that the Hub is supporting a highly diverse, dynamic and vibrant city with strong cultural and ethnic roots, and therefore seeks to ensure that the commissioning process balances the need for structure and consistency with the ability to be responsive and adaptable in order to respond to the evolving needs of the communities we serve.

The HLO will take appropriate advice on establishing and adhering to good procurement practices, and will monitor developments in this area, in order to continuously improve the arrangements in support of maximising the utilisation of the grant funding to deliver the Hub’s strategic objectives.

Activities and budget proposals

For each initiative, activity or opportunity identified to support the delivery of the Hub’s programme of work, a suitably detailed proposal setting out how the activity will be delivered, resourced, funded and quality assured must be submitted to the HLO.

For significant projects (e.g. those with a value of over £25k pa) proposals should be submitted to the HLO by June 30^th for projects that will be delivered between 1 September – 31 August (e.g. the next academic year).

Proposals for smaller projects will be accepted at any time.

Proposals received will be reviewed by the HLO and assessed for suitability against appropriate performance criteria, including but not limited to:

• It must be a recognised “entity” such as a registered charity, organisation or community group (e.g. not an individual)
• They must hold a UK bank account and their credentials can be verified
• There is a named lead contact (full name and job title), a correspondence address and contact information
• There is a clear schedule for delivery and detailed deliverables
• The cost proposal/budget must be viable
• Reporting arrangements are set out, covering the information required both during the delivery of the activity and on its completion. This would include data such as: number of sessions delivered, number of attendees/participants, feedback received, confirmation of actual spend/income and overall impact achieved.

The HLO will scrutinise the proposals received and seek clarification on areas that may be unclear, in order to satisfy itself that the option presents good value for moneywill be effective in meeting the specified goals/objectives and delivering the intended impact.

In the majority of cases, it is anticipated that proposals will include a request for funding by the HLO to deliver the activity but this may not always be the case. In some instances, funding may not be required, or funding may be available from a source other than the HLO’s Arts Council England grant. In all cases, a proposal relating to the delivery of the activity, how it will be resourced and funded is required before the HLO can make a decision as to whether or not to commission the organisation to deliver the activity.

Proposals seeking funding support of £5k or more will be subject to close scrutiny and will require appropriate detail setting out what will be delivered. Proposals involving requests for funding below £5k are likely to be less detailed, but must also be contain sufficient information and be of appropriate quality for the HLO to be confident in commissioning the work.

Where awarded, partnership agreements will contain references to the relevant additional conditions and standard terms and conditions of the funding agreement, noting the requirements relating to restricted funds and limitations on the use of funding.

When considering the proposals received, the HLO will make decisions as to the allocation of funding in line with the Hub’s agreed strategic objectives alongside the priorities identified in the most recent needs analysis. The HLO recognises that it has a responsibility to ensure that the available funding is distributed as broadly as possible in order to maximise the opportunity the ACE funding provides for the benefit of local communities, whilst also ensuring that the funding needs to be targeted on areas and activities where it will offer the best value for money and provide maximum impact.

Through the monitoring process set out below, the HLO Board will keep the HLO decisions regarding the allocation of funding and the award of partnership agreements under review on a regular basis, satisfying itself that the distribution of funds follows due process, that the HLOs approach encourages active participation by all potential partner organisations and that the commissioned activities deliver the expected impact and contribute effectively to the achievement of the Hub’s agreed strategic objectives.

Self-commissioning by HLO

Where it is identified that selected Hub programme activities might be best delivered by the HLO through SFE’s Music Service (for example, Whole Class Instrumental Teaching), the Music Service will prepare a proposal setting out how this activity will be delivered in the coming academic year together with supporting budget and resourcing information.

The HLO Board will consider this proposal, seeking clarification regarding the content as appropriate from the Music Service Leadership Team, before approving the decision to commission the specified work from the Music Service.

When the HLO Board is considering such proposals, the SFE Head of Music Service may be present to answer questions by HLO Board members but will not participate in the decision-making process as to whether to commission SFE Music Service to deliver the specified HLO programme activity.

Links to other HLO policies

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following HLO policy:

• Conflict of interest

Quality and performance monitoring

At intervals set out in the partnership agreement(s), the HLO will regularly monitor and review the delivery of the activity or service by the partner organisation and the return on the investment made. The findings of such quality assurance reviews will be reported back to the HLO Board to inform decision making about further activity that may be needed to deliver the Hub’s SMART objectives and/or the commissioning of further activity with that partner organisation.

In due course, quality and performance monitoring will feed into and align with the ACE Impact Framework and associated guidance. In the meantime, it will incorporate a clear methodology appropriate to the complexity of the project/activities and will include at least the following:

• observation of delivery (by the HLO or member of HLO Board)
• feedback from the customer(s) and students involved in activity (qualitative and quantitative)
• evaluation of the activity by the partner organisation, together with any reflections/ recommendations for future actions
• performance of the delivery in line with the agreed schedule (e.g. % of sessions run)
• breakdown of actual spend/income against funding provided

Where there is a concern over the quality of the activity being delivered, or the performance of the activity falls short of the standard expected, or concerns are raised regarding the conduct of employees of the partner organisation, the HLO will bring this to the attention of the partner organisation at the earliest opportunity so that remedial action can be taken. If the remedial action fails to address the concerns raised, the matter will be escalated to the HLO Board for consideration. If the concern so warrants, the HLO Board may request that the HLO bring the partnership agreement to an end before it’s natural expiry.

Hub Board’s oversight

Approval of commissioning decisions

The HLO Board will oversee and scrutinise the HLO’s decisions regarding the commissioning of partner organisations or SFE Music Service for the delivery of programme activities. This role will be discharged through the regular monitoring of the impact of the partner organisation’s delivery on the Hub’s strategic objectives and the value for money being achieved for that activity.  

Where the partner organisation is in receipt of funding in excess of £25k per year, a commissioning sub-group of [4] HLO Board members will meet [three] times a year to review the appointment process and scrutinise performance of the partner organisation in more detail with the HLO and report their findings back to the full HLO Board to inform decision making.

Policy review

The Hub Board will monitor the application and effectiveness of this policy, normally in January annually.