Songbirds Spotlight…This month we want to shine a spotlight on our Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) annual training programme. This year, we are delighted to be working with 14 UG3 students from the RNCM. We have worked with over 100 students during the history of our training programme at the RNCM. Many of our students have gone on to develop their own projects in hospital settings across the UK and abroad, or gone on to train as music therapists or community musicians. Many of SMUK’s freelance project musicians have also trained with us at the RNCM. Over 10 weeks the students are introduced to our work with children and young people in hospital and community settings. During the sessions students learn practical skills and build their knowledge of using music with children and young people in hospital, and develop their own professional skills toolkit of creative skills, activities and research for making music in hospital spaces. This year the students have been able to observe our remote music sessions in paediatric critical care as part of our flagship Sound Environments project. Two of our students, Tom and Ilana, shared feedback on their observation visits: ‘The online session gave me a very good insight into the ward and way the music helps and benefits the children. The staff on the ward are crucial in making the music happen…The soothing gentle music clearly had such a positive impact on all the very poorly children. I also observed that both Ros and Mark played music tailored to suit each individual child. Very gentle soothing music and singing was played to very poorly children lying very still on their beds. For children out of their beds the music was more upbeat. Ros interacted with the children using their name and she used the same percussion instruments as the children, which made them completely involved.’ Tom ‘What struck me was the way that so many of the staff were really happy to see you when you were playing for them and willing to facilitate you guys by moving the iPad, and introducing new doctors. There was so much thought put in from both you and the staff about how to help the children benefit from the music (like which way to go round so people would be awake, what they might like, where the iPad went so you could see the children and they could see you), and they seemed to react really positively.’ Ilana
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