A year ago we launched our course Voyagers - instrument discovery! and since then 49 children aged 5 to 7 have completed the course - 38% of whom received support from our Bursary Fund, and 23 of whom are already enrolled for follow-on courses.

GMS co-founder and Principal Bethan Scolding saw a need for children to be able to try out several different instruments, whilst also learning core musicianship skills that built from week to week. This would mean that at the end of the course, each child would have fundamental music skills that made them ready to learn any instrument at all! Whether that be one of the instruments they'd tried, or something new.

The course gives children a sense of control and artisitic identity, since they understand more about the different instrument available, and they feel empowered to approach any instrument with confidence.

During the course, children's skills and knowledge in core musicianship are grown through singing, movement and creative activities. Each child will have several sessions trying each of three different instruments - these might include cello, piano, violin, drums or guitar. Each child receives a detailed personal progress report with recommended next steps.

Means tested bursary support for the course is available thanks to the members of our Amici friends scheme and the Orinoco Foundation, and we're proud to have created another way to expand the musical horizons of children in our community - by providing a high quality setting for children to explore different musical instruments, discover their unique talents and interests, and to make choices about their education, right at the start of their musical journeys.

The course takes place on Mondays, Fridays and Sundays, at The Stables Charlton House.