How one setting’s immersive approach to music made Early Years Teacher Jessica Holme appreciate its developmental role
Even violin lessons can be appropriate in the early years
Even violin lessons can be appropriate in the early years

I am no musician. So, when I first arrived at Newlands Spring Primary School, in Chelmsford, a small part of me died inside when I heard that my class of 30 four- to five-year-olds would have a 30-minute violin lesson every Monday morning.

Why, I wondered, would any senior leadership team put me through this? And what use was a violin lesson to a four-year-old? Most of these children couldn’t read and write their own name, never mind read musical notation or create their own.

Like most early years practitioners, I had read, and been told, about the importance of music to early learning. So, I had always tried to embed music in my practice, singing lots of nursery rhymes and giving children regular access to musical instruments.

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