Westmorland and Furness Music Service
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About The Hub

Cumbria Music Education Hub is a partnership led by Westmorland & Furness Council Music Service (Children’s Services). We work together to deliver high quality musical opportunities for all children in Cumbria, in the Cumberland and Westmorland and Furness unitary council areas.
The partnership includes Cumberland Music Service, a range of Regional and National organisations and schools and educational settings. We work to deliver the vision and three goals of the National Plan for Music Education through the ACE Music Hub Grant, as laid out in our Local Plan for Music Education.
"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."
Local Plan for Music Education
Progression Strategy
Safeguarding Children and Young People
Remissions Policy
Inclusion Strategy
Commissioning Policies
Hub Roles
Advisory Board
Hub Partners

Key Terms 

from The power of music to change lives: a national plan for music education

  • Arts Council England (ACE): A non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
  • Music Hub: Also referred to as Music Education Hubs (MEH). A group of organisations – such as local authorities, schools, other hubs, art organisations, community or voluntary organisations – that work together to create joinedup music education provision and provide specialist music education services to around 90% of state-funded schools. Lead by the Hub Lead Organisation and overseen by the Hub Board.
  • Hub lead organisation (HLO): The Organisation responsible for securing the delivery of the five key functions and coordination, funding and governance of the Music Hub (Westmorland and Furness Council's Music Service(Childrens' Services).
  • National Plan for Music Education (NPME): Originally, the 2011 government publication setting out what all children should expect from music education and how it should be delivered. Now refers to the refreshed NPME published in 2022
  • Local Plan for Music Education (LPME): The LPME is the Business Plan prepared by the Hub Lead Organisation (HLO) for how the Hub Grant will be used to support Music Education in Cumbria. It focusses on what people in the local area need. Parts of the LPME are published below so that everyone can see what we are doing. It describes how we will deliver the 3 main aims and 5 strategic functions for Music Education Hubs.
  • School Music Development Plan (SMPD): ACE encourages all schools to produce a Music Development Plan to help drive improvements in provision for all children and young people, with the aim of having a revised or new Music Development Plan in place for academic year 2023/24 at the latest.
  • Model Music Curriculum (MMC): A non-statutory blueprint for delivery of the music curriculum for key stages 1, 2 and 3, published by the Department for Education in March 2021

Key facts

  • Our Hub Lead Organisation is Westmorland and Furness Music Service
  • The Hub is a partnership that covers the whole of Cumbria. Since Local Government Re-organisation on 1 April 2023, two unitary authorities provide music delivery in schools, an instrument hire scheme and out of school music centres through Cumberland Music Service and Westmorland and Furness Music Service.
  • Music Hubs were set up in 2012 by the Arts Council to create joined-up local music education and deliver the objectives of the National Plan for Music Education.
  • We work together to deliver the government’s vision that “all children and young people ... learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.” (Arts Council England).
  • We deliver against the 3 Aims of the National Plan for Music Education (June 2022): The Power of Music to Change Lives : To support schools and other education settings to deliver high-quality music education To support young people to further develop their musical interests and talent, including into employment To support all children and young people to engage with a range of musical opportunities in and out of school