The school has partnered with the South West Scotland Piping and Drumming Academy (SWSPDA) to reintroduce piping and drumming tuition, with the aim of eventually re-establishing a Moffat pipe band.
At a virtual meeting of Moffat Community Council last week, cluster headteacher Tara Woods said she was “pleased and delighted” to confirm that piping and drumming would commence at the school in January.
And Andy McCartney from SWSPDA said he was confident that the partnership will be successful in Moffat.
He told the meeting: “I have been in touch with the Scottish Schools Piping and Drumming Trust and they are desperate to help Moffat get a pipe band up and running.
“We did try this once before, we got windfarm money to cover the cost of tuition in Moffat, but because of one thing and another and because of covid it fizzled out.
“There are still three or four kids involved in piping and drumming at Moffat so we can build from there.”
Andy explained that SWSPDA, which has been running since 2013, already provides tuition in more than 20 schools in Dumfries and Galloway.
The regional music charity no longer charges pupils or schools for the cost of tuition, and instead seeks external funding to cover their costs.
He said: “We did a presentation about a month ago in North West Community Campus in Dumfries, and now our instructor Callum is teaching 42 kids on pipes and 15 who want to be drummers.
“I know they will not all stick with it but even if we lose half of them we still have enough for a pipe band, and we can do exactly the same at Moffat.”
