Write to your local MP
16 April 2010
Many of you have expressed a desire to join in with the campaign to fight for Music Education funding and to ensure that the issues affecting music education are at the forefront of politicians’ minds.
With this in mind, we have prepared a template of an email or letter you can send to your local MP asking them to commit to supporting the Music Standards Fund.
The Music Standards Fund of £82.5 million is critical to music services being able to continue their important work; for instance teaching school children how to play a musical instrument and making sure youth orchestras continue to flourish.
The template text below should be completed with the name of the MP and their constituency.
To find out who your local MP is, and how you can contact them by email or in writing, you can visit findyourmp.parliament.uk and enter your postcode.
Model email or letter:
Subject line in an email: The public back music education – will you?
Dear [MP's name],
I am writing to you to urge you to back music education and the Music Standards Fund which underpins the critical work of music services.
The Music Standards Fund is a dedicated grant to enable Local Authorities to support music education. It is crucial to supporting music education in [your constituency] and costs just 3p per week per person in England. The Fund is the bedrock of instrumental music education and a recent poll by the Incorporated Society of Musicians showed that 91% of adults agree that every child should have an opportunity to learn a musical instrument in school.
I am asking you to sign up to commit to the pledges below, and save music education for all. Please reply and let me know that you support music.
Will you:
- Back the continuation of the Music Standards Fund,
- Commit to protecting your local music service,
- Vote to keep music and creativity at the heart of the curriculum, and
- Support music education for all, from cradle to grave.
I look forward to receiving your reply.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
Your comments
Hi.
I think the letter in principal is a fantastic idea but I currently teach on a private arrangement in the two main secondary schools in Chippenham which fills my five day week.
So the content of the letter should ask to include funding for schools and not just funding to the local music service, otherwise I would be concerned that my position would be in jeopardy if the local music service was seriously undercutting my own fees, I’m sure there are thousands of other teachers in my position. 95% of teachers at my schools work on a private arrangement and just hire the rooms from the school.I hope the above makes sense.
Tim
17 April 2010 Posted by Tim Fosker
Well done ISM team. I shal send this letter to my parlimentary candidates. Thank you for the template
17 April 2010 Posted by John Stephens from South London
Funding is key to sustaining opportunities for people of all educational abilities and all social classes. Along with this there should be stronger legislation to ensure that teachers are protected from the false accusations that can arise from pupils - whilst protecting the rights of pupils. The latter is long over due.
18 April 2010 Posted by Philip Herbert from Leicestershire
I wholeheartedly support the ISM and the suggestions put forward in the proposal. Please keep music alive in Britain- keep our local music centres and provide them with enough money to enhance community life. Secondly, and importantly, please ensure that musicians receive a decent salary so that they can continue to enrich the lives of others. I speak from personal experience- I can no longer afford to live on the money I receive as a music teacher and have now taken up another(more financially secure) type of employment.
18 April 2010 Posted by Barbara M. Heap from Sheffield
Does the Music Standards Fund also covers Wales? I’ve noticed on the second paragraph that it ‘cost 3p per week per person in England’...
19 April 2010 Posted by Dominic Codera from Cardiff, Wales
Music is not an optional extra. It is vital!!
19 April 2010 Posted by Hilary Fisher from London SW14 7BQ
Thank you very much for organising this campaign. I have sent the emails to Cllr. Mark Ramsbottom (Liberal), MP Tony Lloyd (Labour) and Suhail Rahuja (Conservative).
23 April 2010 Posted by Sonia Gergis from Manchester
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