Council on song against plans to scrap music at Maltby Academy

CAMPAIGNERS fighting plans to scrap music lessons at Maltby Academy have secured the backing of town councillors.

A petition set up by former student Stevie Challinor has already attracted more than 1,600 signatures.

Maltby Town Council has now given its backing and agreed to write to the school.

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Mrs Challinor said: “We’ve also made flyers which we are busy posting around the town. 

“We’re not going down without a fight.”

The campaign started last month after the school’s leadership team announced it would no longer be teaching the subject due to a “steady decline” in interest.

Parents also wrote to education secretary Justine Greening for help.

But Mrs Challinor said: “We had a reply from her office which said she was in favour of the plans which wasn’t very helpful.

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“I think the school’s official complaints procedure is the only way forward now.”

Mrs Challinor also said parents were getting “mixed messages” about their children’s future education.

She said: “I was talking to one parent whose daughter had already started GCSE music and she said she was told to change her options, but another in the same situation said she’d been told she could finish the subject.”

Cllr Janet Law said: “Music has always been in schools and is an important part of the curriculum.”

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A spokesman for Maltby Learning Trust, which runs the school, said: “Much to our disappointment, despite the academy’s commitment to offering taught curriculum time and accredited courses in key stage four and five, GCSE music has seen a steady decline in student interest and take up over a number of years.”