Independent Chair of Board, Surrey Music Hub Steering Board

Surrey Music Hub (the Music Education Hub for Surrey) is seeking to appoint an Independent Chair. This is a voluntary position with an allowance of up to £3,000 for expenses.

You will be passionate about ensuring that all children and young people can access high quality music education opportunities that meet their needs. This role offers an opportunity for the right individual to make a difference to the lives of the children and young people of Surrey through music.

You will chair the Hub’s Steering Board, working alongside the Music Hub lead organisation, Surrey Arts, the arts service for Surrey County Council as well as partners to ensure the effective delivery of the Department for Education National Plan for Music Education (NPME).

The Independent Chair will need to have significant experience and expertise in partnership working and strategic thinking, business and budget monitoring and management. The chair will commit to developing a thorough knowledge and understanding of the needs of, and challenges for, children and young people, issues affecting Local Authorities and schools, Arts Council England/Department for Education policy relating to Music Education Hubs and the breadth of music providers working in Surrey. Experience in music/music education is not required as we are seeking to broaden the range of experience and skills to help drive our future development forward.

The chair role will run for a term of 3 years with an opportunity to be reappointed.

Surrey Arts, the Arts Service for Surrey County Council, is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion and would especially welcome applications from the ‘global majority’, the LGBTQ+ community and people who are disabled.

For further queries please contact Sarah Lee, Head of Service, Surrey Arts sarah.lee@surreycc.gov.uk

Commitment: Four board meetings plus preparation per year; at least one meeting per year will be in-person. Other meetings as advised.

Context, Vision, Mission, Approach and Values

Context – Surrey Music Hub is a partnership led by Surrey Arts. It serves the local authority area of Surrey County Council, with a total school population of 163,657 children as of 2024/25, in 401 state-maintained, academy and free schools (4 state-funded nurseries, 299 state-funded primary schools, 59 state-funded secondary schools, 26 state-funded special schools, 5 non-maintained special schools and 8 state-funded alternative provision schools), through music making and the arts and cultural offer. The lead partner of the Surrey Music Hub is Surrey Arts, which is part of Surrey County Council (SCC) Cultural Services. The Hub is overseen by the Surrey Music Hub Steering Board, which is made up of partners and local stakeholders.

Vision – Changing lives through music

Mission – Surrey Music Hub’s aim is to work in partnership to ensure that children and young people from all backgrounds receive music education that is high quality, wide ranging, sustainable and accessible to all and that there are clear routes for progression.

Approach – We: advocate, celebrate, deliver, create, innovate, commission, educate, invest, nurture, support, connect, develop.

Our Values

Surrey Arts is an ambitious and forward-thinking organisation that places young people at the centre of our work. We are committed to developing Surrey Arts as a genuinely inclusive organisation, fostering a culture of belonging where all are respected and valued and one that meets the needs of the whole diverse community of Surrey. Equality, diversity and inclusion is central to our organisation and we are committed to its development at all levels of the organisation as outlined in our EDI strategy.

Surrey Music Hub is committed to delivering ‘The Power of Music to Change Lives’, the Government’s National Plan for Music Education, for all children and young people throughout Surrey. Surrey Music Hub performs all the following aims and functions as set out by Department for Education:

Aims for Music Hubs:

To support schools and other education settings to deliver high quality music education.
To support young people to further develop their musical interests and talent, including into employment.
To support all children and young people to engage with a range of musical opportunities in and out of school.

Hub Strategic Functions:

Partnerships
Schools
Progression and Musical Development

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