Music Returns
Like many of you working on music projects across the country, I am sure we are all relishing getting back into a room with young people and making music!
As part of NMPAT's Youth Music Fund B grant, "Industrious", we've been running regular music clubs in our local area for some time... going right back before the pandemic... coping with going online in 2020... experimenting with hybrid/blended approaches throughout 2021... and whilst most were back in operation in September, it still somehow feels like a novel experience to be in a room playing together... and thankfully, much of the anxiety around the Omicron variant seems to have passed and the future is looking rosier than it has done for many a month.
During this transitional period, we started a new club in our local area in the second half of last term. To recruit, we contacted local SENCOs and Inclusion Leads in nearby schools asking them to refer pupils to the new group (which meets after school one evening a week) and targeting those most at need of support regardless of whether they have had music lessons previously. The group now consists of a heady mix of young carers, looked-after-children, including many with learning difficulties such as dyslexia and other issues including dyspraxia... and a wide range of ages (7-16) and abilities.
The musicians leading the sessions have reported back that it's been quite a wild ride! All the young people are keen... with consistent attendance... but, initially, at least, little sense of group identity and social awareness. So, they've taken some time to settle into this new environment. However, recently, coming back together after the Xmas break, everything has suddenly just shifted and they've really started to focus in on what they want to do... and, with the help of the music leaders, produced a list of ideas and activities. Now... it's true that in many circumstances, this would be a very straightforward thing to do... and do so early on in the project... but for this group, it's been quite a positive step forward... and one that has needed time to gestate and emerge! One of the musicians said at the end of the session, "It really feels like we're beginning to make a difference now!", and I think this statement reveals as much about the frustration of trying to make music online for so long as it does about the specific situation with this particular group here.
The final thing to note is that, no doubt particularly reflective of the times we live in, parents and carers seem truly relieved that there is something for their children to do... away from home... and in some cases away from the difficulties their children encounter in school... and in a group that is acceptive of who they truly are!