Stoke Newington Music School CIC
Our objectives
Objectives
We are a community music school with a mission to make high-quality music education accessible to under-represented groups in our local area.
Who we support
We currently support over 200 service users aged from 4 upwards. Our students include:
- Children and young people from low-income families (40%),
- Those with SEN, and people who identify as disabled (22%).
- Older adults, with 10% of our students aged over 65.
Our school proudly serves a richly diverse community, with 65% of our students from BAME backgrounds.
How we support them
We offer a variey of group and individual music lessons, tailored to the needs of each student. Our inclusive approach builds community by mixing students from different demographics and creating opportunities to learn from one another. We run dedicated sessions for students with SEN, delivered alongside an experienced SEN practitioner, and offer specialist music classes for over-65s focused on social connection and mental wellbeing.
Beyond lessons, we provide enriching opportunities including:
- Work experience placements (12 participants so far)
- Support to study music GCSEs (8 students achieving top grades 7–9)
- Student-led music school shows, where young people plan, host and manage the entire event — building confidence, transferable skills and a sense of purpose.
Why our work matters
Our music school transforms lives and strengthens our community. Students report feeling safe, supported and part of something bigger — 85% say they experience a strong community spirit here, and 55% say they have made lifelong friends. Two students have progressed into employment through our work experience programme, while older participants report feeling less isolated thanks to our service-user-led over-65 classes.
Our work also benefits the wider community — reducing social isolation, increasing cultural participation and bringing together people from different demographics to create a vibrant, connected local community through music.
Our activities
We are a service user-led music school, designing our programmes and projects around the needs of our community. We continually gather feedback from current and potential service users to ensure our work is relevant, inclusive and impactful.
To achieve our objectives, we deliver a wide range of activities that make high-quality music education accessible to under-represented groups, including students from low-income households, students with such as and , disabled students, and older adults aged over 65.
We run group lessons that build community and promote social cohesion by bringing together people from different demographics, alongside individual lessons tailored to students with disabilities and SEN to ensure no one is left behind.
In 2025/26, our aim is to increase our overall student numbers, with a particular focus on welcoming more SEN students and those from low-income households. We have also developed a dedicated daytime class for over-65s, providing a safe, calm environment where older learners feel comfortable travelling, can learn while alert and engaged, and have opportunities to build friendships and connections.
All our programmes are designed not only to teach music but to foster confidence, community spirit and social inclusion, ensuring that every student can participate fully in music activities and access quality music education regardless of background or circumstance.