A MAJOR shake-up of music teaching in York schools is set to go ahead in September after it won the backing of the city’s education boss.

Under the plans, entire classes of Key Stage 2 children will learn a musical instrument for a year, after which parents will have to make their own arrangements with freelance instrument tutors if their children want to continue.

Currently, York Music Service organises lessons for individuals and small groups, which are partly paid for by parents and given in school.

But from September, most of the instrumental teachers will be made redundant and under an approved tutor scheme will be able to work as freelance teachers in the schools.

The council will continue the York Arts Academy sessions on Saturday mornings at Canon Lee School to give children the opportunity to play in orchestras and ensembles and sing in choirs.

Currently, 1,400 children take instrumental lessons and 850 more have classroom instrument teaching. Under the new scheme, 3,000 children will have the year-long classroom tuition. Coun Carol Runciman, executive member for education at City of York Council, said she hoped schools would welcome the change and she supported the academy continuing.

“It is no good making music on your own – it is a group thing,” she said.

Existing support staff would lose their jobs but be eligible for other posts under the council’s ongoing reorganisation. The shake-up is expected to save the council £41,000 in 2011/12 and £75,000 in 2012/13 in subsidies, but the 2011/12 savings may be eaten up in redundancy payments.

Under the new scheme, freelance tutors working in schools will have to pass quality and criminal record checks and could have training arranged through the council. The existing system has 23 full-time equivalent teaching posts which will be reduced to seven. Support staff jobs will be reduced from 5.6 full-time equivalent posts to 2.7.