Our popular course – Making Music with Special Children – will help you to find out how music can help you to communicate with children who have special needs or disabilities.
Who is the course for?
The course is open to anyone working with children who have additional needs, complex needs, or life-shortening illness: whether you’re a musical novice or have some experience you will go away with plenty of ideas and techniques to put into practice in your work. We aim to give you the skills and confidence to make music with children. If you are a very accomplished musician this may not be the course for you, though previous participants wishing to expand their practice to work with children with special needs have found it enlightening. For those working in settings without a music specialist this support will be especially needed, but even where there is a trained musician to hand your new-found skills will prove invaluable.
What will the course cover?
- Exploring musical instruments
- Working with pulse and rhythm
- Singing
- Using iPads for music
- Approaches to working one-to-one
- Working with groups
Our tutors
Mark Withers is a clarinettist and creative project leader for orchestras and other organisations around Europe, delivering music projects for children with a wide range of needs, and training those who work with them. He is joined by music therapists Vicky Kammin and Cathy Ibberson, both of whom have an enormous amount of experience, especially of working in children’s hospices.
Where and when?
Our York course will be on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th November 2025 at York CVS, YO1 6ET.
Our London course will be on Monday 17th November and Tuesday 18th November 2025 at Hoxton Hall, N1 6SH.
Cost
Jessie’s Fund is able to subsidise the course thanks to a grant from a charitable foundation. Your contribution for the whole two-day course will be just £95, including refreshments and a light lunch on both days.
Booking information
Click to book for the York course here.
Click to book for the London course here.Â
Cancellations: you may cancel up to four weeks before the date of the first part of your course and receive a full refund. After that we would offer a 50% refund.
