The Catholic Union is delighted to announce that it will be holding a webinar on Wednesday 13 January at 6.00pm to explore how we can use sacred music to drive school engagement and youth mission and social mobility across the UK. Chaired by Catherine Pepinster, well known journalist, attendees will hear from Benjamin Saunders, the architect of the National Schools Singing Programme (NSSP).
Originating from a highly successful model developed over two decades in the Diocese of Leeds, the NSSP has scaled into a major UK-wide educational force. Under the patronage of Sir John Rutter, the programme supports over 38,000 state school children weekly across 437 schools, bypassing traditional educational silos to create more than 70 permanent professional music roles for young graduates.
Benjamin Saunders, Lead Consultant for the NSSP says: “For generations, the Catholic Church has been a preeminent patron of the arts, a leader in education, and a champion of the poor. The National Schools Singing Programme was founded to reclaim that mantle, ensuring world-class musical training is never the exclusive preserve of the privileged. Singing is uniquely accessible, crossing social, economic, and cultural divides. By partnering dioceses directly with state schools, we are addressing a critical funding crisis in music education while offering children, and their families, a profound encounter with beauty, joy, and the transcendent through sacred song.”
Catherine Pepinster, Journalist, says: “I am very excited about learning more about the National Schools Singing Programme. With pressures on budgets at schools the arts are in decline, this is therefore a real service by the Church and I hope that parents, staff, governors and all those with an interest in the benefits of music will attend this webinar”.
Those wishing to register for the webinar on Wednesday 13 January at 6.00pm please email info@catholicunion.org.uk and a zoom link will be provided. Booking is essential, but all are welcome.
