Early Years magazine article by Kent Music

EARLY DOORS

Unless you look after a very young child, you may be unaware of just how much the early years music sector has grown in recent years. Christopher Budd hears from three of the bigger early years music providers about their philosophies and curriculums and the opportunities they provide for teachers Today, parents of very young children are more aware than ever of the positive effects that music can have on their children’s development. It’s an awareness that numerous private concerns have sought to cash in on by providing music classes for children and offering franchise opportunities for entrepreneurs with an interest in music education. This article will look at the work of three such organisations. All three have slightly different philosophies, but each aims to strike a balance between preparing young children for more formal musical education and using music to develop a range of other skills.

leave our classes to start school,’ says Coates, ‘they will be equipped with all sorts of musical skills, including being able to read simple musical notation.’

JO JINGLES Jo Jingles was set up in 1991 and launched as a franchise in 1995. It now has over 90 franchisees, providing over 2,000 weekly classes in over 700 centres throughout the UK, Ireland and

Western Australia. More than 25,000 families and children attend its age-specific classes every week. These aim ‘to provide babies and young children with a stimulating, fun and educational introduction to music’. Caroline Crabbe from Jo Jingles explains how the overall philosophy of its classes is ‘learning though play and fun with music in a positive and safe environment. Classes are structured in such a way that the children learn through movement and self-expression and through the shared enjoyment of singing and making music.’

MONKEY MUSIC

Monkey Music was started in south-east London in 1993 and launched as a franchise in 1998. Its classes now operate in nearly 400 venues throughout the UK with over 10,000 families attending classes every week. It has a four-stage curriculum which babies can start from three months old and which founder Angie Coates says ‘uses music as a basis for developing all aspects of early learning. In particular, we use music to develop social skills, physical skills and language skills.’ Monkey Music classes are also designed to prepare children for their next musical steps, which may include learning an instrument. ‘When children

musicteachermagazine.co.uk

FEBRUARY 2013 | MUSIC TEACHER

KINDERMUSIK Kindermusik is a music and movement programme for young children developed by educational experts in Germany in the late 1960s. In the UK and Ireland, Kindermusik has been operating for 14 years and has about 120 teachers throughout the region with an estimated 2,500 families attending every week. Drawing on the work of esteemed musicians and educators from Europe and Asia, including Suzuki, Montessori, Kodály and Orff, Kindermusik’s classes are built upon a very strong body of educational theory, as Vanessa Webb, director of Kindermusik UK/Ireland, says: ‘Our programme is based on research demonstrating the benefits of music at each stage of a child’s development, understanding that music nurtures a child’s cognitive, emotional, social, language and physical

development.’ The programme’s activities, which include singing, instrument play, dancing and movement, are ‘designed to develop and strengthen your child’s physical and neural functions, social-emotional skills, early literacy and early maths, and much more,’ says Webb.

the staff so that they can teach the programme and integrate it seamlessly into their class day. Kindermusik programmes are also offered by nurseries and we have trained staff in the largest chain, Busy Bees, who have been teaching it for the last three years.’

REGULATION AND EXPANSION INTO NURSERIES

FRANCHISES AND LICENSING

While there is no formal regulatory body for this sector, the organisations themselves have all developed strong curriculums that tie in with the education framework in England. Each of them meets the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage of the national curriculum (and in the case of Kindermusik, the Key Stage 1 guidelines too). Beyond their regular classes, all of these groups are making inroads into other more formal settings, and this of course brings them into contact with Ofsted, as well as bringing up the complex issue of who pays for the services. As Coates says, ‘Lots of our teachers teach Monkey Music in a nursery setting and have been recognised by Ofsted inspectors as the music providers for the nursery school.’ The nurseries where Monkey Music operates are mainly private and can choose whether to absorb the cost or pass it on to the parents, depending on how they want to promote Monkey Music. Jo Jingles has also expanded its market by ‘providing sessions in children’s nurseries, children’s centres, play centres and most early years settings,’ says Crabbe. ‘A number of our franchisees also provide after-school classes too. ‘Generally, most of our contracts in early years settings, including nurseries and children’s centres, are paid directly by the venues,’ she continues. ‘However, this does vary depending on the setting.’ Kindermusik is expanding its settings even more and developing public-private partnerships. ‘We are working with a number of the newly formed music education hubs to deliver our programme into schools,’ says Webb. ‘Our Kindermusik educators help train

BEYOND THEIR OWN REGULAR CLASSES, ALL OF THESE GROUPS ARE MAKING INROADS INTO OTHER MORE FORMAL SETTINGS 38

MUSIC TEACHER | FEBRUARY 2013

Monkey Music and Jo Jingles operate as franchises, allowing teachers to buy a franchise area and receive training and support to run their classes. Teachers can pick the scale of their franchises to fit around their other responsibilities and adapt them as their responsibilities change. As Coates says, ‘Rather than distracting them from their teaching careers, Monkey Music allows teachers to continue teaching. Their main reason for coming out of the classroom and into Monkey Music is that they will have started a family and find that the long teaching days, often quite a distance from where they live, are not conducive with the needs of a young family.’ But it’s not just mums. ‘Monkey Music attracts mostly women due to the nature of its flexible full-time working hours,’ says Coates. ‘However, lately we are seeing more applications from men, as the role of the father is changing and more men are taking on a more equal role to their partners with regards to childcare and income expectations.’ The move from classroom teaching to a franchise requires more than just teaching skills. ‘We do have a number of trained teachers who move from the classroom,’ says Coates, ‘although good teachers don’t automatically become suited to running a business. So we are very careful when we interview and access potential new franchisees to make sure that they also have natural business acumen that we can work with.’ Monkey Music is expanding, with an increase in franchise turnover of 11% last year and record numbers of applications for new franchises. Franchises currently cost £11,895 plus VAT. Jo Jingles franchisees and class teachers are recruited from ‘a wide variety of backgrounds including teaching, nursery managers, professional and business backgrounds,’ says Crabbe. ‘Many of them have some previous musical experience or have worked with young children.’ Its recruitment and training process is thorough, involving interviews and visits to existing Jo Jingles franchisees as well as a week-long training course at Jo Jingles head office in Buckinghamshire. musicteachermagazine.co.uk

LINKS AND OTHER GROUPS Monkey Music monkeymusic.co.uk Jo Jingles jojingles.com Kindermusik kindermusik.co.uk Rhythm Time rhythmtime.net Musical Minis musicalminis.co.uk Music with Mummy musicwithmummy.co.uk Pre-School Music Alliance presma.org

Teachers are supported with further training with an appointed business mentor as well as ongoing training and business support. Jo Jingles franchises cost from £5,000 to £9,000 plus VAT, depending on the size of the territory. Kindermusik is not a franchise organisation and takes a different approach. It offers training to teachers to become ‘licensed educators’ who are then able to set up and teach wherever they want. Under this model the start-up costs are low as there are no franchise fees to pay, although there are ongoing licence fees. The model is also flexible, offering the teacher the chance to take the licence with them wherever they might move, including overseas. ‘Most of our teachers have musical backgrounds,’ says Webb. ‘Many play instruments, sing in choirs or teach an instrument, but this is not a requirement. We attract people from many walks of life – from business, teaching, the arts and finance. ‘The number of classes taught varies between educators,’ she continues. ‘Some teach just a few, others make it a full time job. It is their choice and Kindermusik does not stipulate that a certain number of classes need to be taught. Many do Kindermusik around other

commitments like family or other work like instrumental teaching.’ Kindermusik’s training is specialist but flexible and is delivered remotely. Experienced Kindermusik master teachers guide trainee teachers through a 12- to 15-week online training programme with a four-week practical element. Like the other two organisations, Kindermusik is growing. ‘I envisage a growth of around 20% to 25% in educators by the end of next year,’ says Webb. Even in these straitened times, the early years music sector is developing and growing. It could be a real source of opportunity for enterprising music teachers looking to be more in control of their own hours, or for those who want to run their own businesses, perhaps scaling up the model to employ other teachers. If you want to get involved, choosing which model to pursue will come down to which of the organisations’ philosophies you most connect with, the availability of the franchise and how much you want to take on. Of course, setting up your own business is always complex and fraught with difficulties, not least finding the initial financial outlay and time for training. But the rewards for your career and work-life balance could be great. MT

MUSIC FOR LITTLE PEOPLE: TEACHERS REQUIRED Music for Little People classes are for children aged five and under, providing ‘a fun and educational approach to learning about music through age-appropriate classes’. The curriculum provides children with a well-structured approach to learning about music while enhancing and supporting learning in the national curriculum foundation stages and the Birth to Three Matters framework. A typical ten-week term involves learning over 40 new songs, laying the foundations for future musical learning. Music for Little People is currently recruiting highly motivated individuals with a musical background to be teachers. Successful candidates would use Music for Little People’s existing curriculum and would also need to be capable of building their own Music for Little People business. This would involve advertising for clients, working closely with parents and children, building up numbers in classes and delivering a minimum of three classes a week over 30 weeks a year within the three school terms. This is not a franchise, but a licence opportunity. For more details contact Karen Dickinson on 01480 812469 or karen@mflp.co.uk. musicforlittlepeople.co.uk musicteachermagazine.co.uk

COLOURSTRINGS Colourstrings is building a strong reputation worldwide for providing quality music education in an intuitive and enjoyable way, both within the school curriculum and beyond. The philosophy of its approach is based upon the natural skills and interests of children: singing, moving, enquiring and having fun. The quality and depth of its training aims to ensure that teachers provide their pupils with a thorough, step-by-step journey to musicianship and musical literacy in an enjoyable but gimmick-free way, through games, activities, movement and dance. The Colourstrings approach is based on Kodály’s principles that music education should begin in infancy and be based on the singing voice. Colourstrings teachers are trained to select songs and rhymes from a rich variety of quality repertoire drawn from global folk traditions, taking care to ensure that music is within the vocal range of young children. Colourstrings training aims to provide teachers with a deep understanding of how young children learn, and gives confidence to classroom and early years teachers to sing with young children in a way which aids their development in all areas. colourstrings.co.uk FEBRUARY 2013 | MUSIC TEACHER