How a Washington music school has thrived during lockdown - with digital lessons and online exams

Sweet Symphony School of Music, which was started by Louise Bell, 35, was forced to stop face-to-face lessons in March as the coronavirus lockdown was introduced, but has managed to thrive in difficult circumstances as it embraced becoming a digital music studio.

Despite the unprecedented and challenging circumstances, the music school in Washington was able to see a number of its students pass music exams, which were being taken online for the first time as the nation was asked to stay at home.

After making the decision to move online, rather than stopping all lessons, Louise was delighted to see the hard work of her students and staff pay off.

“In mid-March we began seeing lots of lesson cancellations with parents citing worries about being out and about because of the virus, and I knew that we were going to have to offer some alternative way of teaching if we wanted to continue operating,” she said.

“I began doing some serious research into it and tried to work out the logistics of getting 400-plus students online almost overnight using the Zoom platform, of which I had no prior experience.

"We received so many lovely comments from parents and students, who said that during such an uncertain time it was lovely that there was some consistency in their child’s life.”

The school, which runs out of Speculation House, Washington, is aiming to get rid of misconceptions about music lessons and be a school for all backgrounds and walks of life.

Despite losing a large number of students during the lockdown as many people were furloughed, Louise was delighted with the amount of students who chose to take online lessons, keeping the music school afloat.

In June, Sweet Symphony School of Music was able to being the transition back into the classroom, with a number of social distancing guidelines in place to ensure the safety of staff and pupils.

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