Essex Music Education Hub’s free Regional Conference for music educators and professionals, due to be held in Chelmsford on 7th and 8th September, will now be held online.
The themes are ‘unlocking music’ and ‘re-connecting’ – getting music going again in school, and connecting with colleagues across the county – a lot of staff are ‘battle-weary’, and as one of the best things about conferences is meeting other people, we’ve made sure there’s plenty of time to meet others, share experiences, and limit the feeling of isolation we can sometimes feel in our roles.
As part of our conference we will be launching the #CanDoMusic campaign in association with MusicMark. This campaign is a country wide campaign and seeks to support the resumption of musical learning in the Autumn term for all, and help clarify all that can be delivered at this time, and suggest the safest ways of delivering this. DfE have made it very clear that they expect Music Hubs to be part of the return back to schools in September.
We’ve also reorganised the timings so that they work best for you and your colleagues – so that you can gain information and interaction without it compromising your in-school time.
Monday 7th Sept
3.00-4.30pm – ‘My School’s Music Programme’
These sessions have been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances, and will be arranged as twilight sessions before half-term.
How to get music going in your department and school again, with separate focuses for primary and secondary for Ofsted, eLearning resources etc
Tuesday 8th Sept
10.45-11.30am – Bring Your Own [Virtual] Coffee Morning!
We didn’t want to lose one of the best parts of conferences – getting to chat with other music educators! In this session meet colleagues from your districts now that you’re back in the thick of it – share your experiences, and find a common bond
12.00-1.30pm – BYO Lunch
As at coffee time, here is a longer chance to catch up with other music educators, and catch up with EMS staff
3.00-4.30pm – A Child’s Musical Journey – from Early Years to Adulthood
A panel discussion with audience questions, chaired by Philip Flood (Sounds Connections), with Bridget Whyte (MusicMark), senior leads from schools, and members of the Essex Music Service team.
As the start of term will be even busier than usual and the need for teachers to be flexible, we will send an email the week before the conference which will have the links to each event (held on Microsoft Teams), so that you have everything in one easy email. Microsoft Teams is limited to 300 spaces, so please sign up sooner rather than later!