Youth Music South West Network kicks off
A desire to collaborate around shared practice arose at Youth Music’s Grantholder Gathering on Friday 8 May in Bristol. Peer evaluation, shared continuing professional development (CPD) and collaborative planning were all seen as opportunities for the enthusiastic practitioners in the room.
It was a really great day, thanks to everyone who took part. In case you missed it, or you just want a reminder, here are the notes from the day.
One of the really interesting parts of the gathering was the breakout discussions. Three discussion groups formed around: • Early years – there was a desire to collaborate around peer observations and shared practice • Special educational needs and disabilities (SEN/D) – sharing resources and evaluation frameworks were seen as potential collaborative areas • Open access music-making with young people – solutions were explored for retaining young people’s interest in an open access environment
What next? To follow up the discussions and continue the regional networking from the day, here are some suggestions of things you could do.
1 Offer to host a meeting to follow up suggestions around: • shared CPD for workforce and training needs analysis • pathways/progression opportunities for young people • any other topic of your choice
2 Offer to take part in peer evaluation in your field
3 Offer to share resources e.g. teaching aids and evaluation tools
4 Be a critical friend and offer to observe a session (you can use Youth Music’s Quality Framework) or to provide informal training
5 Ask for support around a particular area
6 Blog, publicise events and invite people to join the Youth Music Network, and to get involved in the South West regional discussion group.
A simple audit through Survey Monkey of training needs and resources used could be considered as a basis for collaborative working. This could give those with strengths in certain areas the opportunity to offer to share their knowledge with others. Would you think that helpful?
Meanwhile, do please use the group as a means of communicating with others directly in the region. You can post a discussion here, or you can send a message privately to another Network member by clicking the ‘Contact’ button on their profile.
Thanks to everyone who attended.
Carrie