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Young Sounds UK bring Discover training to Aberdeen
We’ve been running our Discover training in England since 2008 and we’re now looking to start the programme in Scotland! Starting with free sessions in Aberdeen.
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Young Sounds UK Hosts Third Training Weekend for Mentors
On 4 and 5 October, Young Sounds led our third annual Mentor Development Weekend in Loughborough. The weekend had a truly national feel as it brought together 12 of our Connect programme mentors working in our partner Music Hubs across England, as well as 6 mentors from our Engering Music Creators project.
The Young Sounds approach to mentoring
We’ve been developing our mentoring work for several years through fantastic projects like Talent to Talent and Exchange, and recently we’ve been exploring the common themes running through these programmes. This reflection has helped us identify the key principles we think underpin successful mentoring, and we’ll be using these principles as the starting point for our future mentoring projects.
It’s an exciting time for mentoring at Young Sounds. Our team of Connect mentors continues to grow and the work they’re doing is becoming an increasingly important part of the programme. Alongside this we’re developing newer projects such as Engering Music Creators which provides mentoring support for young composers and creators.
New facilitator team
Day one was led by Beth Higham-Edwards and Daniel Fardon, working together for the first time. They brought with them a wealth of experience in the mentoring world through partnerships with Music Masters, BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and The Purcell School. The sessions were a mix of fun ice breaker games, group music making and sharing hands on mentoring tools, all designed to inspire mentors to work in an engaging, co-creative and young person led way.
The sessions also focused on the different styles of listening, and in pairs attendees practised how to listen most effectively as a mentor.
Mentoring in practice
On the second day attendees split into programme specific groups, with the Connect mentors’ session led by Connect Programme Producer Katie Walker and our Engering group joining sessions led by several different facilitators.
Katie’s session delved into the day-to-day experience of a mentor working on the Connect programme. Mentors looked at the different settings their mentor sessions might take place in, how to keep records, log progress and learn key lessons to provide a unique element of support for young people on their musical journeys.
Our Engering group came together to learn the necessary tools to become fully equipped as mentors and facilitators for Engering Music Creators. They began the day with an overview of the project, top tips for mentoring, processes involved, and how best to support our creators with lead Engering mentor, Daniel Fardon. Charanga and YuStudio creator Max Wheeler then led a session exploring different scenarios that mentors could experience, mentor well-being and how to approach appropriate lyric content. His tales and experiences as a producer, educator, DJ and mentor were fascinating to hear!
They were joined in the afternoon by Head of Leicestershire Music (and former Young Sounds Partnerships Manager) Sarah Barton-Wales for some important Safeguarding training. The groups then came together for a final session led by Sarah Share, also from Leicestershire Music looking at best practice when working in SEND settings.
Tired but inspired
On Sunday evening, everyone said their goodbyes and headed home. It was a fantastic weekend where everyone worked hard, had lots of fun, met new colleagues and left feeling inspired to take what they’ve learned into their Young Sounds work.