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2021

National audit of Early Years Music Activity – Can you help?

At Note Weavers, our Youth Music funded Talking Regions programme is now well underway within the North West and beyond. In the summer, seven regional organisations met as part of the ‘National Conversation’ and this group is now engaged in an audit of early years music activity across England.

To this end we invite you to complete the questionnaire below before the end of October 2021.  Please can you also share this information and link with your partners and contacts?

We are hoping for a good response which will provide a snapshot of activity and inform nationwide discussions and strategic thinking relating to early years music provision.  At the end of the project a final report will be available.

Questionnaire

Music in the Early Years: Demystifying SEN/D

Sunday 12th September, 10am -12pm   £15

This session is suitable for all early years practitioners and music leaders working with young children.

Led by music therapist Georgina Roberts, this online session will explore:

  • the joy of working with children who have SEND
  • The challenges young children face and ways to overcome them
  • Tips on resources and activities
  • Where to go for more information

In particular, Georgina will focus on ways to make adaptations for children with speech and language difficulties and sensory impairments.

 

About Georgina Roberts:

Georgina has been a freelance music therapist and early years music practitioner since 2011. She has worked extensively with children who have special educational needs and disabilities in a range of special school settings, delivering both individual and group based sessions.

She currently works as the SEND project manager to her local Music Education Hub. She believes passionately that music can be used as a tool to support young children, help them connect with others and break down language and learning barriers.

Further information

We will be using online video software Zoom, so please ensure you have downloaded the app on a desktop or mobile ahead of the session. For security, we’re asking you to sign up via Eventbrite and you will be emailed the Zoom ID and password after you register.

Funding opportunities: Bursaries for CME:EC course

Note Weavers is inviting expressions of interest from Early Years Practitioners and Early Years Music Practitioners in the North West region who are interested in studying for the Level 4 Certificate for Music Educators: Early Childhood (CME:EC) qualification at the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC).

Funding from Youth Music means we are able offer successful applicants:

  • a significant bursary for the CME:EC course
  • experience of leading a series of 10 music sessions in an early years setting with additional mentoring from Note Weavers. 

Information about entry requirements* for the course can be found on the CREC website here 

Bursary details:

The bursary is £1125 against the full course fee of £1550 and will be paid directly to CREC. If accepted onto the course, students will need to provide the remaining £425 from the start of the course (CREC payment plans are available). It is anticipated that employers may contribute and invest in their early years music provision.

The early years music delivery will involve 10 half days between January and March.  Self-employed practitioners will be paid £45 per half day up to a total of £450.

Timescales

The CME:EC course begins in October 2021 and includes 4 compulsory face to face core learning days in Birmingham (COVID permitting): 28/29th October 2021, 14th February & 11th April 2022    

This is a student led, practice based, part-time course.  Please see the CREC website for specific details.

The associated early years music sessions will take place in the Spring term (January to March) and offer successful applicants an opportunity to develop their practice with additional mentoring from Note Weavers to contribute to and support learning on the course.  The settings will be arranged once the four practitioners have been accepted.

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS:  Midday Friday 23rd July 2021 

Interviews will take place in the week commencing 6th September 2021

Want to ask a question?  No problem, just contact Zoe Greenhalgh: zoe@noteweavers.org

 

*CME:EC course requirements include:

  • GCSE English minimum Grade C (or equivalent)
  • Prior musical experience
  • DBS clearance (it is the student’s responsibility to obtain this before the start of the course)

Press Release: Music to our Early Ears!

Note Weavers CIC have been awarded £30,000 by Youth Music using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England to support early years music education in the North West of England and beyond.

This new programme of work, ‘Talking Regions’, will support early years educators and music practitioners at several levels.  New local and specialist practitioner networks will be established to share ideas and resources and offer access to free training opportunities. There will be music activity in four nursery settings led by four practitioners who will be mentored by the Note Weavers team and receive a bursary to complete the Level 4 Certificate for Music Educators; Early Childhood (CME:EC).

Talking Regions will also bring together a number of regional early years music organisations including key voices in the sector from across England to initiate a new national dialogue that is mutually supportive and informative for the ongoing development of early years music practice.

June 2022 Update: The Evaluation Report for this National Conversation is available here

Incorporated as a Community Interest Company in 2019, Note Weavers is an organisation committed to;

  • establishing opportunities for practitioners to connect and develop their knowledge and understanding, improving early years music practice
  • increasing access to inclusive music opportunities for children, families and communities
  • developing the early years music workforce and supporting emerging practitioners 
  • contributing to conversations on a national level with other like minded organisations.

Note Weavers has existing partnerships with Brighter Sound, Early Years Education department at Edge Hill University and More Music who said;

“A key area for development in early years music provision is supporting the workforce in sharing practice, training, examining the latest in reflective evaluation and educating music practitioners. Note Weavers will play an important role in leaving a lasting impact on developing skills for the sector. “   Loz Kaye 2019

Further information about Talking Regions or any of Note Weavers’ other programmes of work can be found on the website, along with contact details and information about how you can get involved.

Website; https://www.noteweavers.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noteweavers/

Instagram: @noteweavers

Twitter: @NoteWeavers

LinkedIn; https://www.linkedin.com/company/noteweavers 

 

Notes for editors: About Youth Music

This project is supported by Youth Music, using public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England. Youth Music is a national charity investing in music-making projects that support children and young people aged 0-25 to develop personally and socially as well as musically. The charity works particularly with those who don’t get to make music because of who they are, where they live, or what they’re going through.

Projects funded by Youth Music help to break down barriers at all stages – helping children develop an early love of music, providing diverse role models, introducing young people to a wide variety of potential career paths, and working with the music industry to make its practices more inclusive.

Songs for a Busy Bee

MCEP Creative Curriculum Partnership

We are excited to be part of this Manchester Cultural Education Partnership (MCEP) initiative which sees cultural organisations paired with education establishments across Manchester, aiming to embed creativity within the school curriculum.  For this project, Note Weavers were paired with the Hospital School based at Manchester Children’s Hospital to develop a digital resource which included links to the City of Manchester.  Thus ‘Songs for a Busy Bee’ was born.

This was an exciting opportunity to bring music to children staying in hospital, but it also brought a number of unique challenges.  Due to the nature of schooling in hospitals and the differing ages/number of children hospitalised at any one time, the sessions needed to be appropriate for all ages in Early Years/Key Stage 1 and offer progression for those children who have a longer stay as well as short term patients.  The ongoing pandemic also meant that it was not possible to lead any live sessions, so the project was designed and developed as a digital resource by music educator Sorrel Harty.

The result was a series of four linked music sessions, with accompanying craft activity videos and song sheets including ideas to extend learning.  The sessions can be used individually or in a progressive series.

The resources are currently being used by the Hospital School and will soon be available as a resource on the MCEP website.

 

Music in the Outdoors with Sally-Anne Brown

Sunday 9 May 2021, 10.00-12 noon   £15

Preparing & using outside spaces for music sessions,

from fields to concrete playground

 

Sally-Anne will cover:

  • some of the challenges of delivering music outside and how to overcome them
  • resources and musical activities which can be used in the outdoor environment

This session is suitable for all Early Years practitioners.

 

Sally Anne Brown has been a freelance Early Years music practitioner since 2005 following an increasing interest in very young children’s musical interactions and experiences which she witnessed during over 25 years as a woodwind teacher. Sally Anne’s experience includes delivering both ‘open to all’ music sessions in Children’s Centres and community groups and more tailored sessions in nurseries, preschools and schools in North Yorkshire and East Lancashire. She have also worked for several charities on music projects supporting families with young children with visual impairment, with physical disabilities and children for whom English is an additional language. She is also a mentor on the CME:Early Childhood based at CREC in Birmingham.


Songs, Rhymes & Story Times

with Children’s Librarian & Early Childhood Music Specialist Ben Lawrence

Sunday 16 May 2021, 10.00-12 noon   £15

Picture books are some of the most useful and powerful tools for engaging children in the Early Years. This highly practical session led by Children’s Librarian and Early Childhood Music Specialist, Ben Lawrence will explore ways to combine songs and rhymes with picture books to engage and inspire young children. Find out top tips and discover different ways to bring stories alive through music and song and enable a positive experience of key musical concepts.

In this session Ben will be exploring the magical world of picture books and sharing stories with young children:

  • Strategies for sharing stories in different ways
  • How using pictures books can help embed music learning within early years provision

During the session there will be an opportunity to work in small groups, so please bring along your favourite picture books to share.

This session is suitable for all Early Years practitioners, Early Years Music Practitioners & others who lead family story time sessions in libraries & community settings.

About Ben Lawrence

Ben is Children’s Librarian for Calderdale Libraries and an Early Childhood Music Specialist. He is an Early Years methodology tutor for the British Kodály Academy & regularly presents at conferences & delivers training on using songs and rhymes for Children Centre and Early Years staff as well as Children’s Library professionals. He has recorded songs and rhymes for the charity Booktrust, for their National Bookstart Week celebrations and, with his colleague Shelley Bullas, he co-authored the chapter Music and Rhyme Time Sessions for the Early Years in the book “Library Services from Birth to Five: Delivering the Best Start” edited Carolynn Rankin and Avril Brock.

Connecting Threads: Sharing Practice

 

This national Connecting Threads Network event will explore project working

– successes, challenges, impact & potential

 

Come & find out about two Youth Music funded early years projects that have been taking place in the the North West

Bring your own ideas to a discussion about the potential for future collaborative work & explore how we can make this happen

 

The session will begin with project presentations from:

Cate Madden and Susie Jones (Edsential CIC) will be sharing the outcomes of their Youth Music funded project, Leaps and Bounds: delivered over three years in areas of high economic deprivation, providing a range of creative music-making activities to support positive social and musical outcomes. Cate and Susie will share the successes, challenges and legacy of the project, as well as suggest practical solutions to delivering safely online and in settings during this time.

Shared Sounds, a project run by The Bureau Centre for the Arts in Blackburn, delivered in partnership with Note Weavers. Sorrel Harty and Sue Ridyard will share some of the learning, the challenges and the change which is taking place as a result of the delivery, as well discussing how this programme highlights the strength of partnership working across organisations.

Following on from these presentations we will discuss aspects relating to the development of future projects such as effective design, outcomes & impact, & collaborative partnership working.

Practical info

We’ll be using online video software Zoom, so please ensure you have downloaded the app on a desktop or mobile ahead of the session. For security, we’re asking you to sign up via Eventbrite and you will be emailed the Zoom ID and password after you register.