An innovative music mentoring project will run a one-to-one scheme with 50 Ipswich youngsters to combat low school attendance levels.

The Noise Solution community interest company secured £96,000 of Essential Life Skills Funding as part of the Ipswich Opportunity Area designation – a government-led project to raise aspirations and attainment in 12 areas across the country.

Noise Solution will work with 50 pupils who have displayed low levels of school attendance, to help engage them with education.

The youngsters will be paired with a music mentor for 10 two-hour sessions, starting at the child’s home before moving to a professional music studio.

The aim is to help them develop confidence in making music and creatively learning skills.

Simon Glenister, CEO at Noise Solution, said: “We’re thrilled to be able to work in partnership with Ipswich schools over the next six months.

“We’re keen to take the guesswork out of arts interventions and demonstrate that marrying a strong academic theory of change with an excellent evidence base and the innovative use of technology can have a transformative impact, helping solve problems facing individuals, local government and health authorities.

“Our unique approach and online platform captures the numbers needed to prove it works alongside the individual human stories behind these numbers.”

To help parents and carers see their child’s progress, highlights from the sessions are uploaded onto a secure online platform.

It also utilises NHS wellbeing techniques to help monitor the progress of each individual.

More than 50 projects across Ipswich have already been launched as part of the Opportunity Area, with schools benefitting in the region of £53,000 each.

Last week, it was confirmed that a pilot to improve GCSE maths attainment for struggling pupils had proved successful, and would be rolled out further to support more pupils.

Katrina Gardiner, programme manager, said: “We are firmly in delivery now – we’ve got about 50 initiatives that are running under the opportunity area.

“We’re not here to throw a load of money and disappear – we’re here to try and make significant change to create social mobility for our young people.”

Gordon Jones, cabinet member for children’s services, education and skills at Suffolk County Council, said: “Through Essential Life Skills funding, Suffolk County Council has awarded a number of small grants to projects in Ipswich schools and colleges, which are designed to develop children and young people’s essential life skills such as confidence, communication, team work and leadership.

“Noise Solutions will be working with vulnerable secondary school and college students through their music mentoring scheme to develop their confidence and engagement with education and training.”