The SoundWaves Network Launches in Plymouth

Take Art’s three-year Early Years Music project The SoundWaves Network funded by Youth Music, will bring together the current and future Early Years workforce in the South West to create more and better opportunities for young children to experience and benefit from the best Early Years music provision.  

The project launch took place on Friday 19 October In Plymouth at an event led by Take Art’s Early Years Music Lead Jane Parker and supported by an array of partners.  It was attended by over 50 practitioners from the Early Years and Music sectors.  The launch provided an opportunity for the community to connect, collaborate and learn about what effective Early Childhood music practice looks like. 

Jane Parker said, “I wanted the participants to go away with the necessary tools to effectively support Early Childhood music making in their settings. I look forward to us coming together to share examples of how we tune in and value young children’s own ways of being musical.”  

Dr Karen Wickett, Joint Programme Lead, The University of Plymouth, Early Childhood Studies said, “There was a real buzz in the room, it was a terrific experience for students and practitioners to learn together with like minded people who are excited about challenging their understandings of children as music makers and providing a rich music experience for them.”

The SoundWaves Network is working with three Learning Communities in the South West. The Plymouth community connects The University of Plymouth’s Early Childhood Studies students, Early Years practitioners from Plymouth settings and Early Childhood music practitioners - all learning alongside each other to provide musical experiences for very young children in Early Years settings across Plymouth.  

This pioneering way of working with both the current and future workforce will be repeated further afield in Bristol and Somerset.  

The Plymouth Hub has come about due to support from the Early Years Music Community in Plymouth  - with partners The University of Plymouth, EY settings Ham Drive and Lark Children’s Centre, Plymouth EY Advisory team and Plymouth Music Education Hub.