Through our role in Birmingham Forward Steps, The Springfield Project has been leading the Birmingham Early Years Music Consortium, which brings together partners from across the Early Years sector with professional music organisations and freelance musicians.
The importance of music in early childhood
Hearing develops as babies develop and grow in the womb, this is the beginning of musical development. We are musical beings before we enter the world, and we believe this natural musicality should be nurtured from birth. We believe all children should have the opportunity to engage in quality musical experiences from birth onwards and should have the opportunity to sing and create music. Music threads through all areas of learning and development, from moving to sound (physical development) to the caregiver and baby exchanging musical coos and sounds as part of their communication development. Singing and engaging in music enables children to express their ideas and feelings. We believe music should be seen as a core component of children’s learning and should be shared with young children to ensure they have broad, balanced and rounded experiences in early childhood and beyond.
Funding from Youth Music
In 2019, the Consortium was thrilled to be awarded a grant from Youth Music to deliver the Sounds of Play project which ended in March 2022. This project brought the Early Years and Music workforces together to learn from each other, to develop high quality Early Years Music practice across the city and to deliver music activities to children under 5 and their families.
In 2023, Youth Music awarded a further £150,000 to BFS to continue to develop early years music practice and provision across Birmingham. The project, funded until November 2025, is continuing to build on the established relationships formed between the partner organisations and continues to offer a range of CPD opportunities for Early Years educators and musicians across the city.
Since the start of the Sounds of Play project across Birmingham:
- 1,339 children and young people have taken part in music making activities
- 154 group sessions for children and families have been delivered
- 72 professional development sessions for the workforce have taken place
- 535 staff or volunteers (Early Years and Music) have participated in professional development sessions
We are enormously proud of this project and leading the Consortium and grateful to Youth Music for enabling it to happen. You can download a summary of the evaluation of phase 1 of the project here.
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