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Sheeran's call to improve music ed praised by school

Alice Cunningham
BBC News, Suffolk
PA Media Ed Sheeran is pictured singing into a microphone looking away from the camera. He has red hair and wears a blue suit with a white shirt underneath. He wears a black earpiece. PA Media
Ed Sheeran has spearheaded a letter to government and Sir Keir Starmer calling for a £250m music education package

The head teacher of Ed Sheeran's former secondary school has praised the singer's call to improve music education.

Sheeran, backed by other artists including Annie Lennox, Harry Styles and Sir Elton John, has written to the government pushing for funding to offer children from all backgrounds musical opportunities.

Philip Hurst, head of Thomas Mills High in Framlingham, Suffolk, said he had seen a "dismantling of county music services" over the past 30 years and believed in Sheeran's push.

A government spokesperson said it was "committed to ensuring art, music and drama are no longer the preserve of a privileged few".

Thomas Mills High School Philip Hurst, headteacher of Thomas Mills High School, smiles at the camera while sitting outside. He has short dark hair with some grey. He wears a navy suit which a white shirt and tie. Behind him flowers and bushes can be seen.Thomas Mills High School
Philip Hurst, headteacher of Thomas Mills High School, said he had seen a decline in music education over the years

Sheeran's letter called for a £250m UK education package this spring "to repair decades of dismantling music".

The letter cited a 2019 report from the British Phonographic Industry which found there had been a 21% decrease in music provision over five years in state schools.

"Music in and out of school should be for all, not a few," the letter added.

"We understand that there are many pressures. As artists, civil society and industry, we want to be part of the solution."

Born in Yorkshire and raised in Suffolk, Sheeran has had 14 UK number one singles and eight UK number one albums, after beginning his career in 2004.

James Watkins/BBC Sheeran is pictured on a stage singing into a microphone. He has red hair and wears a black T-shirt with red stripes on its arms. He wears a black earpiece in his right ear. James Watkins/BBC
Sheeran has previously donated to Thomas Mills High School and recently set up the Ed Sheeran Suffolk Music Foundation

"[Through] My career, which has spanned three decades, I've seen the dismantling of county music services - everything has to be about efficiencies," Mr Hurst told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"Quite frankly, it seems to me that people think spending money on instruments is not efficient."

He continued: "All those signatories to it, I think they are very powerful and it's good timing.

"We've got a national curriculum review going on, Ofsted have come under scrutiny and are looking to adapt their ways and practices.

"It could just be that it makes people sit up and think, and it really should."

A government spokeswoman said its new National Centre for Music and Arts Education would "promote opportunities" for young people to pursue artistic and creative interests in school.

The government is set to put a further £2.3bn into schools' budgets, with £1bn for children and young people with high needs.

Suffolk County Music Service (SCMS) said it "fully supports Ed Sheeran's letter to the Government and the call for a UK-wide £250m music education package this spring".

SCMS added that it was about to move its administrative base to Martlesham, which would establish "a dedicated, standalone centre to further strengthen our support for schools, young people and the wider community".

The service said that it would ensure that "music remains an integral and accessible part of education in our region".

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