Fifteen months ago 17 youngsters picked up violins and cellos for the first time. Now there are 95 students at two schools in the music programme and their skills have reached the point where they have been able to stage their first public performance.
The Orokohanga Music Trust programme teaches year four children from Camberley and Ebbett Park schools classical music while also teaching confidence, self-esteem and resilience.
Orokohanga was set up by music teacher Ngaire Shand after she saw a television documentary on the value of using music to improve children's social and mental well-being.
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"The children come through the programme with a whole range of skills, social as well as musical, that will benefit our whole society," says Mrs Shand.