Music Spark Traineeship ... 'My Favourite Cup from my favourite Cupboard'
On Friday Sept 29th we welcomed the new Music Spark Traineeship cohort of 13 young people to Sage Gateshead as part of our AMIE Fund C Training programme. Music Spark is a programme of training and work experience for young people and adults aged 15-25 years old with additional needs. The aim is to develop both their musicianship and their life skills. The reputation of Music Spark continues to develop with the Music Education Hubs acknowledging not only the expertise of our Music Leaders, but the skills of the graduates from the proigramme too.
Music Spark Volunteers, who have previously completed their own traineeship, deliver this training in collaboration with experienced Music Leaders. Previous graduates of the training have remained active as Music Leaders with some going into employment including as Support Musicians at Sage Gateshead. For more information ...
https://sagegateshead.com/get-involved/children-young-people/comusica/music-spark/
As well as the Trainees themselves we had a multitude of support staff to consider. Getting to know one another was the first thing that needed to happen. This process took over an hour starting with Music Leaders, Support staff and then the young people introducing themselves. Music Leaders used used call & response, rhythm games, video, pictures and lots of drawing to help the whole group become familiar with each other and their new surroundings. Sage Gateshead is a big building and can be a little overwhelming for some so it is important to make sure there are opportunities, should they be required, for a young person to have some 'time out'.
The rest of the day consisted of a gentle introduction to Arts Award and various types of musical activity. A couple of our Music Leaders introduced Arts Award by getting the group to think about their favourite type of music and musician, asking questions like what do you like about the music and how does it make you feel? In the music making sessions the group were introduced to major and minor chords alongside exploring some song writing ideas based on how they were feeling. Lyric writing was spontaneous and unbridled! .... "I've got my favourite cup from my favourite cupboard" ... brilliant.
This first day is always challenging and this year has seen our biggest intake so far. The needs of the young people are varied and many, it will take a little while to adapt our programme to suit the group. Support staff have come from local Special Needs schools and voluntary organisations. Their support will be vital if we are to deliver a succesful programme. It took a little time for people to settle but the day was a triumph including lunch in The Brasserie side of Sage Gateshead's concourse for over 25 people.