Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Big Noise goes from strength to strength

Youngsters enjoying a session with the Big Noise Orchestra in Claypotts Castle nursery recently.
Youngsters enjoying a session with the Big Noise Orchestra in Claypotts Castle nursery recently.

The Big Noise orchestra in Douglas has reached another milestone after launching its new programme aimed at nursery-aged children.

The social mobility project has been running in the east end of the city since September, already interacting with more than 250 pupils from primaries 1 to 3.

An additional 150 children will now be taken onto the Sistema charity-run initiative through a partnership with St Pius and Claypotts Castle primary schools.

The little ones have enjoyed musical games which introduced them to the scheme

Andy Thorn, team leader at Big Noise Douglas, said: “We are really excited to begin engaging with nursery pupils at both St Pius and Claypotts Castle nursery schools.

“Having initially launched Big Noise Douglas with primary school pupils in September, we’ve already begun to see the skills and confidence levels grow among many pupils taking part.

“We’re delighted to now be able to extend this to younger children and families in the Douglas community”

The sessions have been arranged flexibly to maximise the attendance of the children. The three to five year olds will have a 15 minute session once a week in groups of eight to ten. The two year olds will have a 20 minute session each week in a group of around 15.

An after-school programme for the primary school children will launch after the Easter holidays for children from both schools.

This will take place on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Claypotts primary and a snack will be provided before each session begins, according to a report by Dundee City Council’s education department.

Big Noise Douglas is delivered by the charity Sistema Scotland in partnership with Optimistic Sound and Dundee City Council, with support of strategic partner Gannochy Trust.

The Dundee orchestra, run by 
Sistema Scotland, is the charity’s fourth in Scotland, following those in Raploch in Stirling, Govanhill in Glasgow and Torry in Aberdeen.

Perth-based Gannochy Trust awarded the Dundee project £325,000 to support it over its first three years.

The late singer songwriter Michael Marra was one of the first to call for the orchestra to be established in the city and the first round of fundraising began with a collection at his funeral in 2012.