Read all about what Note Weavers have been up to over the past few months!
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Category: News
‘In Conversation’ Series
We are looking forward to hearing Zoe Challenor from B’Opera ‘In Conversation’ with Note Weavers. Taking place on Tuesday January 31st 7-8pm come and listen to Zoe chatting about how she strives to create inclusive, relevant and accessible musical experiences for families with their young children! Only £5! Book now!
Music in Parent-Infant Relationships – a blog from Georgina
Hi, I’m Georgina and I’m one of the Note Weavers directors. I’m a music therapist and an early years music practitioner. I’ve worked for a long time in SEN/D settings, but just recently I’ve completed an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being at Edge Hill University. I’d enrolled on the course because I’d started working on a well-being project with young people, and I wanted to update my knowledge. This blog is about my musings over how music connects with parent-infant relationships and parent and infant mental health and well-being.
I’ve always had an interest in parent-infant relationships and how musical activity can support families in the first few years.
Read Georgina’s blog here
Exploring Music & the Parent-Infant Relationship
Tuesday 1st November 2022
7-9pm (online), £15
Led by Georgina Roberts this CPD session will explore whether music can effectively support the parent-infant relationship.
As part of her MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being, Georgina gathered a cross-section of service provider reflections on the effectiveness of music to support parent-infant relationships.
During the session Georgina will unpack her findings and promote discussion around three themes:
- what does ‘music’ mean in the context of parent-infant relationships
- reflections on terminology associated with parent-infant relationships
- considering the musical and non-musical approaches to support the parent-infant relationship.
This session is suitable for music practitioners, early years practitioners and parent-infant mental health practitioners
Have you read Georgina’s blog?
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.
Georgina has recently completed an MSc in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being at Edge Hill University. She has an interest in parent-infant mental health and perinatal mental health. She believes passionately that music can be used as a tool to support young children, help them connect with parents and others and break down barriers.
This session is part of the Note Weavers 2022 CPD series supported by Youth Music
Talking Regions: The National Conversation Evaluation Report
The National Conversation formed part of the Note Weavers Talking Regions project which was funded by Youth Music and involved regional organisations from across England coming together to talk about early years music practice and provision. Now that this phase is complete, Note Weavers CIC would like to share the evaluation report written by Sally-Anne Brown.
SEND creative music making sessions at Bolton Central Library
Note Weavers Directors Georgina and Sorrel have been delivering a series of music sessions, working on behalf of Bolton Libraries and Museums Service. The family sessions were for early years children, and children with special educational needs and disabilities and were located at Bolton Museum and Smithills Hall.
All the sessions had a multi-sensory focus and incorporated musical games and activities, as well as giant scrunchies, scarves, lycra and soft toys, sensory balls, stories and musical instruments. Different rooms in the venues were used depending upon the needs of the children and their families.
Georgina and Sorrel had a fantastic time working with all the children and their families. A big shout out to Jacinta Frank and Charlotte Higham at Bolton Libraries and Museums Service for inviting us to deliver the sessions.
Feedback from families on the sessions was positive:
“The sessions were fantastic. It was great to be a part of something so inclusive where my child could express himself. Georgina tailored the sessions to fit the children who were attending and made sure they were engaged and happy. Since attending these sessions my son has seemed more confident and can often be heard singing the songs from sessions”.
“We loved it. My son can be difficult to engage, but he took part throughout”.
Charlotte Higham, Library Access Officer at Bolton Central Library said:
“The children who attended the sessions thoroughly enjoyed them and it was lovely to see the children who were reticent at the beginning of the session, fully joining in with the musical activities by the end.”
Developing resources with the BBC
Over the past few months Note Weavers Directors Sally-Anne Brown, Vic Holmes and Zoe Greenhalgh have greatly enjoyed working with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra’s Digital and Learning team to develop their Musical Story of the Gingerbread Man, a short film for children with a series of associated activities for early years and key stage 1 settings.
Recorded at the recently renovated Queen’s Park Bandstand in Heywood the film features the Orchestra’s Early Ears Trio and is narrated by Radio 5 Live’s Nihal Arthanayake, and is scheduled for broadcast by CBeebies on Saturday 5th March 2022. It is also available to view via the BBC iPlayer:
To accompany the film the Note Weavers team have devised and written a range of activities and downloadable resources to support music delivery in Early Years and Key Stage 1 settings which are freely available via the BBC website
We hope you find these resources useful and welcome your comments via our social media channels:
Songs, Rhymes & Storytimes
Ben Lawrence
Children’s Librarian & Early Childhood Music Specialist
Saturday 14 May 2022,
Online, 09.30-11.00 £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.
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.
Twigs, Tunes & Tyres: Making Music Outdoors
Tuesday 15 March 2022,
Online 17.00-18.30 £15
Sally-Anne Brown
Following her highly popular session last year, Sally-Anne Brown returns to explore ways of working musically in outdoor spaces.
This session will look at:
- 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
- ways to support families beyond the music session in their own creative outdoor music making.
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.