St Agnes’ Music Crumlin

St Agnes' Primary School Violin Project started in September 2006. St Agnes' Community Youth Orchestra was launched in March 2007 during European Year of Equal Opportunity for Everyone.  The project is truly inclusive. It fulfils the vision of Sister Bernadette Sweeney, who wants every child to have the chance to find their inner creativity. Every child in St Agnes’ School, including 60 Early Start children and boys’ classes from Scoil Colm – a total of more than 400 children – receive weekly violin lessons.  Instruments and tuition are provided for the children without a charge to parents/guardians. No child is disadvantaged by the inability of parents/guardians to support an out-of-school activity, to buy an instrument or to pay for tuition. As boys from St Agnes’ School move at 2^nd Class to Scoil Colm, they continue to be part of the project, crossing the road on Wednesdays for their violin lessons.

Research from round the world shows that cognitive development, literacy, numeracy skills and attention focus benefit from learning a musical instrument at a young age. By introducing the programme from Early Start through to 6^th class, every child experiences these benefits, supported by music teachers and class teachers. The support of the whole school staff has been key to the development of the project. The children start to read music from 2^nd Class. The project continues to support the young players as they move to secondary school.