Music for Change - Home Page - Ealing Music Serviceealingmusicpartnership.com/mie/wp-content/uploads/2017/... · 2017-10-10 · Music for Change Enhancing the school ... To enhance

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Music for ChangeEnhancing the school readiness of children in north Westminster


Background & research-baseMusic in the early years can help children’s development in:

aural perception and language skills (specifically children with language impairment) reading spatial reasoning pro-social skills and identity self-regulation verbal memory general school attainment

Arts & Music - enriched preschool environments improve children’s school readiness, vocabulary, cognitive reasoning and emotional regulation skills …. especially for children from low-income families.


NeedSocio-economic deprivation:

Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (2015):

• 33% of households in Queen’s Park and Harrow Road

• 57% of households in Westbourne

in the most deprived 5% in the country.

Speech, Language & Communication Needs:

• NHS estimates 50% children have SLCN

• 30% children SEN

• At least 60% children EAL


Local context Neighbourhood Community Budget / Our Place – Queen’s Park pilot 2012/13

“The Queen’s Park NCB focus on pre-school infants was the result of community-led priority-setting, informed by evidence and research into the most effective ways of altering the pattern of behaviour where older children and young people become victims and/or perpetrators of anti-social activity and gang violence.

National and international research overwhelmingly makes the case for early intervention as the most cost-effective mechanism to reduce the numbers of families at risk in relatively stable but poor communities.

“it takes a whole community to raise a child…”


Music for Change 2015-18: 5 strands

• Weekly music & story-telling workshops in nurseries & children’s centre(s)

• Termly concerts

• CPD for nursery staff

• Collaboration & co-delivery with NHS Speech & Language Therapists

• Research trial to assess impact of music on Executive Function


Music for Change: Outcomes

i) To enhance children’s early musical awareness and

development

ii) To enhance the personal, social and emotional

development of children aged <5 years in challenging

circumstances

iii) To increase the capacity of music practitioners and early

years professionals to support young children’s speech and

language development through music-making


Music for Change: story so far

• 1,200 + children have been involved, mostly aged 2-4 years

• 12 settings have taken part: 10 nurseries/primaries & 2 Children’s Centres

• 10 specialist music leaders have delivered workshops

• 650+ workshops delivered

• More than 50 sessions co-delivered by CF musician & NHS Speech & Language Therapist

• Researchers from UCL-IoE (Professor Graham Welch) & Roehampton (Professor Adam Ockelford)

• Input on our Executive Function trial from US academics at Harvard, and a parallel trial at USC.


Music for Change: evaluation tools

• Sounds of Intent in the Early Years (musical development) [ http://www.eysoi.org/ ]

• Tracking of children’s attainment in key areas of EYFS

• Anecdotal feedback & observations (e.g. by teacher / music leader)

• Structured observations of workshops (bespoke tool, by project manager)

• Questionnaires pre- and post (e.g. of teacher confidence to lead activities; musicians)

• Engagement/involvement and well-being (Leuven Scale)

• Action research & process evaluation (by independent researchers)

• Specific measure for Executive Function trial including BRIEF-P

http://www.eysoi.org/


Impact – in music• Children in Year 1 of the study began the intervention at the age of 3 years 3 months, and were very

significantly behind musical ARE [age-related expectations] (Sounds of Intent level 2.8 rather than 4.1)

• The intervention meant that their musical development accelerated considerably, moving to a music-developmental age that was slightly ahead of musical ARE (0.1 of a Sounds of Intent level). Children were at level 4.4 at the end of the year.

The rate of musical progress is nonetheless very striking, and shows the potential impact that even a relatively modest weekly interactive musical intervention can have on children’s musical development in the early years.(Professor Adam Ockelford, University of Roehampton)

Children developed better use of the timbres, pitches, and dynamics of their voice.


Impact – in music

Graph showing consolidated Years 1 & 2 musical progression using Sounds of Intent in the Early Years:

R² = 0.79

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33

SoI

Level

Week

Years 1 and 2 consolidated data


Impact – in music• Children’s first experiences of live music performance

“[The concerts were] fantastic. Children really enjoyed them – they talked about them to their parents and to other children in the nursery. It is so important for the children to experience live music by real musicians, and coming out of the setting to somewhere new to experience music for the first time” (nursery head).

“[Our] children are never exposed to live music otherwise. Half of children have never seen an instrument” (nursery teacher).

Parent feedback: 37% of parents had never taken their child to a concert before, and 87% gave it a 5/5 rating for enjoyment. “Loved it, my baby is just 5 months yet was mesmerised for the whole show!” (parent)


Impact – through music

Managing feelings and behaviour: +2 monthsIn Years 1 & 2, children’s ability to manage their feelings and behaviour rose, in developmental terms, from 39 months to 48 months. Had their ability to manage their feelings and behaviour continued to develop at the same rate as before, they would only have risen to 46 months. Hence, across both cohorts, development accelerated on average by two months. Hence it may be that the music sessions had a positive impact on ability to manage their feelings and behaviour.

“In the end of year show some children stood up and danced and hummed who wouldn’t have done so before. They are more able to express their feelings” (nursery manager).


Impact – through music

Self confidence and self awareness: + 1 month

Listening and Attention: + 2 months

Speaking: + 3 months

Understanding: + 1 month


Impact – through music: EYFS summary


Collaboration with NHS Speech & Language Therapists

We collaborated with SLTs from NHS Central London Community Healthcare.

Co-delivery model: MUSICIAN + SLT x 10 workshops x 4 nursery settings

AIM: Embed more use of music and creativity among Early Years staff supporting children with

emerging or mild SLCN, and those with EAL.

NHS estimates c.50% of children in the area have some form of SLCN



Tuning in to sounds – listening & remembering sounds – talking about sounds

Sound Discrimination – raise awareness of sounds & instruments – awareness of rhythms –

Develop children’s appreciation and experiences of rhythm and rhyme in speech

Alliteration – sounds of words

Distinguishing between vocal sounds – oral blending and segmenting

(Phase 1 of ‘Letters and Sounds’ – the Preschool Phase: 7 Aspects, 3 strands)

Musician perspective: learning from the Speech & Language Therapist

• Dialogic reading

• Animate reading using expressive voices – e.g. emphasize keywords (agreed with EYP)

• Visual timetable

• The Speech & Language Pyramid

• O.W.L

Musician perspective: learning from the Speech & Language Therapist

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trusthttp://www.cht.nhs.uk/services/clinical-services/childrens-therapy-services/childrens-speech-and-language-therapy/

• Valuing children’s spontaneous singing

• Using improvised songs to narrate children’s play, & wherever possible

• Developing auditory discrimination by using different rhythms

• Importance of pitching songs at the right level

SLT perspective: learning from music

What we observed in the children

• Confidence in vocal exploration

• Sense of ownership

• Contributions from ‘quieter’ children: rapid change noted in some children

• Sustained engagement

• “We had a high proportion of children with SLCN, this has really helped their confidence, vocabulary and listening and attention.”(Nursery Manager)

Collaboration with nursery staff• Importance of planning and reflection time

• Left objects and loose parts

• Inter-staff support

• “Demonstrable musical and linguistic pedagogical knowledge and skills were evident in the final session from each of the nursery school staff. Nursery staff members were able to lead activities based on their observation of mentored expertise in the preceding weeks. They were observed, with various degrees of confidence, to use their own voices musically and positively to promote children's communication and musical skills, knowledge and understanding.” (Welch & Bowmer, 2017)



“In terms of impact, a comparison of the data in our research observation notes between the first and final sessions each term revealed evidence of children demonstrating significant musical learning, as well as language development and increased communication skills.” (Professor Welch, UCL-IoE)

“The collaboration with SLTs really worked: it has helped children with pronunciation, helped listening skills for distinguishing sounds and rhythm, and supported children with speech and language delay through sounds and rhymes. Two children have been signed off from Speech and Language Therapy as a result of the improvement made.” (Nursery manager)


Music for Change: quotes

“Our documentation of children’s learning shows how involved, focused the children are, how their language skills are developing and how their sense of pattern and rhythm is growing” (Nursery head)

“Communication and language has improved, esp using ‘Bear Hunt’: children retell the story in different parts of the nursery. Children are tuning-in more, listening, following instructions. There has been a significant impact on literacy, e.g. scanning, segmenting, syllables etc” (nursery head).

“Children who were shy have come out of their shell [and become] involved in a bigger group. Social Emotional development has improved. Children are now visibly volunteering to take part – they are socialising and interacting” (nursery manager)


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Documents

Music for Change - Home Page - Ealing Music Serviceealingmusicpartnership.com/mie/wp-content/uploads/2017/... · 2017-10-10 · Music for Change Enhancing the school ... To enhance