How ArtsTrain supports wellbeing in schools through music

Over the past few years, we have teamed up with schools to deliver music workshops to pupils. Recently we delivered workshops to the Harris Girls’ Academy in Bromley and Beths Grammar School in Bexley.

During both workshops the theme of wellbeing was one that was explored amongst the young participants. According to research from The Children’s Society around 1 in 6 children aged 5-16 are likely to have a mental health problem. In the workshops the children were encouraged to express their emotions through a range of collaborative activities such as lyric writing.

Topics written about included; overcoming challenges, comforting someone who has experienced loss, expressing emotion, and loving yourself and your reflection. We used the ‘wellness wheel’ for inspiration for the song writing.

Pupils created mind-maps using this wheel to produce ideas for songs.

Findings from a recent study, as reported in The Guardian, show “that singing, playing or listening to music can improve wellbeing and quality of life”. 26 studies across the UK, Australia and the US were done and showed that “music may provide a clinically significant boost to mental health”. That’s why we love delivering music projects to young people - the effects that the collaboration and creation of music can have on them can be profound.

Phil Jack, one of our music leaders who led the recent workshop at Beths Grammar School, echoed the importance of these workshops when he said that it “was fantastic to see so many of the participants eager to share and engage. There were some really important and relevant discussions that came up during our creation of music around the theme of wellbeing. It's been a tough few years for our young people and I think this was a much needed time of creative reflection”.


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