Early years teachers in Burnley are to benefit from a #163;100,000 two-year music education programme run by a professional orchestra.

The Lancashire Sinfonietta will work with children up to the age of four and their families in six learning centres in the town.

Professional musicians from the orchestra will lead a series of interactive music workshops this summer. The scheme aims to use music to enhance children’s development, engage and support families in the arts, and provide musical training for early years staff to help develop their own programmes.

Families will be encouraged to contribute their ideas. At the end of the two years, it is hoped the orchestra will leave permanent music programmes in place, with trained teachers and parents running their own sessions.

Fiona Sinclair, general manager of Lancashire Sinfonietta, said: “There is so much that you can do with music in the early years. It can help with language, co-ordination and emotional development.

“The music we hear in early childhood makes a deep impression on us and can stay in our memories for the rest of our lives, so we believe that it should be of the highest quality, performed by professional musicians from our children’s own communities.” WS.