Music activities for young people with SEN/D are likely to be restricted for some time due to ongoing restrictions on school visitors, barriers of distance and access, and/or specific health issues faced by the young people. Online music sessions provide a valuable alternative.
In terms of planning these sessions, think about the following:
- Where possible, find out beforehand what technology, communications set-up and other resources (e.g. instruments) young people have at home, and what support they’ll have to get online. It can be useful for a parent/carer to be nearby during sessions, in case of technical or other issues at their end.
- Think about what people have access to at home e.g. scarves or bubbles for sensory activities and make sure everyone knows in advance what they’ll need to take part.
- Online sessions can require at least the same level of staffing as face-to-face ones, sometimes more. It’s useful to have at least one colleague in a support role. While you’re leading activities, they can monitor and reply to comments/chat, look after the technical side of things (e.g. muting/unmuting participants) and support young people who look like they might be struggling to get online or engage.
- Think about session length – the online environment is more tiring for both music leaders and participants, so sessions might need to be shorter.
- Think about the learning, communication or emotional needs of the young people and design a range of activities to meet them.
During the session:
- Spending a few minutes at the start of the session letting everyone say hello and catch up with their friends is really important.
- Also make time at the start of the session to make sure everyone understands what you’re going to be doing.
- Repetition is important, as is breaking activities into bite-sized chunks. Use ‘My turn, your turn’ and leave a pause for the young people to have a go then provide positive feedback (this can feel odd in a Facebook Live or YouTube session, where you can’t see them!)
- Build in opportunities for interaction/young people’s input e.g. in a warm-up themed around the seaside, ask what they like doing at the seaside and what sounds and actions represent that.
- Remember that it might be difficult to young people to sit still in front of a screen for a long period – build in opportunities to get up and move about.
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