The Bradford Music Service is very proud of its work to keep the children of Bradford on song. And come September, exciting plans to further develop the musical skills of local young people will come to fruition.

Graham Cox, the enthusiastic head of the music service, believes its recovery mirrors that of Bradford's much-criticised education service.

When he arrived 18 months ago from Cambridgeshire to lead the service, it had its problems.

"Ours was one of the few services schools could refuse to take. So quite a few of them turned to other providers. But a lot of it was about kicking the LEA in the shins."

It was at a time when the LEA - exposed as a failure by Ofsted in 2000 - had no friends.

Now, schools that previously shunned the services of the Bradford Music Service are coming back and a survey showed high levels of satisfaction.

"Ninety-four per cent of schools rated us as good or better and 50 per cent said we were excellent," Mr Cox said.

This chimes in nationally with a report issued by Ofsted on Monday. It found in a survey of many LEAs (not including Bradford) that local authority music services provided high quality support.

The detailed study was to evaluate how music services were spending the grants that they began receiving from central government in 1999.

The conclusion was that the money was being used well.

Inspectors found numerous examples of tutors with good teaching skills and musical expertise, who were versatile enough to show and take part with children and maximise time available for music-making.

Welcoming the report, David Bell, Her Majesty's chief inspector of schools, said: "I am pleased to see the evidence of strong support for the music curriculum from LEAs, which are maximising resources to expand music making opportunities. It's encouraging to see examples of good practice."

Ofsted also urged LEAs to expand the range of instruments children could learn "so they can see there are other things beside the recorder," said a spokesman.

In Bradford, the Music Service retains the services of some Asian teachers who can teach pupils on instruments such as tabla and sitar.

In September, a revamp of the service will see two of its five local music centres transform. The centres feature after-school coached sessions for bands and ensembles including full orchestras. The central one will become a World Music Centre and the one at Beckfoot in Bingley will become a centre of excellence for the whole district.

In addition the School Prom which was premiered at St George's Hall in March is set to become an annual event to showcase the musical achievements of young people.

Mr Cox, a classically-trained brass player, was offered two jobs in the same week, to head up music services in Wiltshire and Bradford - and chose Bradford: "I thought I could make a difference here."

And he's not been disappointed.

The range of music created in Bradford schools is staggering, from traditional string quartets at schools such as Bingley Grammar to rock and pop bands at Greenhead High, a well-rated soul band at Russell Hall Primary in Queensbury and an African ensemble at Belle Vue Girls.

Months later, Graham Cox still raves about a performance he witnessed by Hanson School's samba band.

"I'm classically trained and if isn't modulated 16 times in 40 seconds, to me it's tedious. But I watched this samba band without a break for 40 minutes while these kids in wacky costumes lathered these drums. It was so inventive - it was breathtaking," he said.

Schools Section