INCLUSIVE ENSEMBLE · VALE OF GLAMORGAN
At Ysgol y Deri, pupils are making music as an orchestra. CMPSR plays alongside other instruments, giving learners different ways to contribute to a shared performance.
A part for each player
The special school’s Every Learners’ Orchestra brings accessible instruments into an ensemble. Assistive technology advisory teacher Lisa Rees-Renshaw worked with a music therapist to create Arrownotes parts that pupils with different needs could follow.
The approach connects individual playing with group music-making: pupils have a part to play and other musicians to listen to. Support from Whizz Kidz and private donor Julian Morgan helped the school establish the orchestra.
Confidence to lead
Lisa described starting without a background in reading music. Seeing what was possible with CMPSR and Arrownotes gave her the confidence to take the next step.
“I just thought: ‘I can do that’.”
Lisa Rees-Renshaw, assistive technology advisory teacher, Ysgol y Deri
Belonging through playing together
In coverage published in summer 2026, Lisa described pupils engaging with one another and developing confidence through the orchestra. By then, the group had already given several performances.
This is a story of pupils participating in a musical group and staff finding a practical way to lead it. The accounts describe staff observations; they do not provide a measured evaluation of learning outcomes.
Read the published coverage: Music Mark, 6 July 2026, and Nation.Cymru, 21 June 2026.