Certificate for Music Educators at 10: alumni stories

As we continue to celebrate 10 years of Trinity's Certificate for Music Educators (CME), we hear from some of the qualification's alumni as they tell us about the impact it has had on their practice and where they are now.

Victoria's story

'I had been working with a friend running art and music classes for under 5s, when I was asked to work in a nursery running music sessions for all rooms, from babies to preschool aged children. I began reading more about music in Early Years and, although I felt able to deliver these sessions, I decided to look for a course/qualification that would help develop my skills and deepen my understanding to support my work. I had been reading about the Certificate for Music Educators (CME) and was contemplating that course when I saw that there was a new CME course specifically for Early Childhood Music (CME:EC). I knew that was the course for me and I formed part of the first cohort for the course.

'The CME:EC, run by the Centre for Research in Early Childhood (CREC) in Birmingham, was fantastic and very informative. Designed and taught by experienced and knowledgeable Early Years specialists, the CME:EC is a practical course exploring resources, planning and approaches to music sessions, but which also explores different pedagogies and musical play in early childhood. The course gave me what I was looking for and so much more. An important part of this particular programme was the requirement to attend learning days to connect with tutors and other students in person. This was an invaluable opportunity as I was predominantly working on my own, and an important chance to connect with others and learn from the experiences.

'The course has had a huge impact on my work. As well as highlighting what good quality music practice can look like, it showed me the importance of providing children with positive music experiences and giving children the chance to play freely with music. The course was also a catalyst for extending my knowledge and understanding of this area and afterwards I enrolled on the MA in Education: Early Years Music, also run by CREC.

'Following the CME:EC, I was asked to become Director of Note Weavers CIC in Northwest England, which has opened up other opportunities for me to work with others, build networks and deliver training/CPD for others. Following completion of the master's course, I was asked to become the online mentor for the CME:EC at CREC. My journey is not over and new doors are opening all the time; however, I would not be where I am today without the CME:EC, which supported and inspired me down this path.'

Ben's story

'I took the Bristol Beacon CME back in 2019. As someone working in Special Education schools, it fitted my need for a deeper and more systematic understanding of the issues affecting pupils with additional needs and techniques to effectively engage and develop their musicality. The course was led by experts in the field and we covered both the content of sessions, as well as how to plan, reflect on and adapt activities and sessions. I found the theory that was presented, especially around reflection methods and models of learning, extremely helpful as I began to plan more innovative and large-scale projects. I appreciated that the tutors themselves had lived experience of disability and neurodiversity, both as practitioners and in their daily lives. They were extremely supportive and adaptive to the needs of myself and my fellow learners and offered the group space to play music and experiment with new ideas in a safe and encouraging space.

'I have taken the learning from the CME out into the world in my work as a workshop leader, but also increasingly as a trainer and mentor. I am able to contextualise my own experience of teaching within the theories presented as part of the CME and have shared course content with colleagues across the country. I was also very happy to become a mentor on the CME myself; having the dual experiences of student and mentor allows me to guide current students with the same flexibility and nurturing style that I was fortunate enough to experience myself. Sincere thanks to Lu and the Bristol CME team!'

James' story

'I am a peripatetic drum kit teacher working in the North Devon area. I became aware of the CME programme whilst attending an annual training session at the North Devon Music Hub. The course was presented to us through Music Education Solutions (CPD Centre West Midlands at the time). I was looking for ways to improve my teaching practice so this course seemed ideal, and I could study around work and do it online.

Having completed the course, my practice has been transformed and I still refer regularly to the material and concepts I was given during my time on this course. The exercises I give my students now engage their creativity much more than they ever used to, encouraging them to take what they have learned from any given handout and develop it further, helping them to develop their own unique voice on the instrument.

This course has helped me no end with my practice, and all of my students are richer for it. It was expertly run through Music Education Solutions and I never felt overwhelmed or lost as help was always at hand, and regular meetings were run to check on everyone's progress.'

Claire's story

'I'd been working as a library manager and team leader for eight years when a work restructure relocated me to be an outreach librarian in a new town. I was feeling a bit lost, demotivated and uncertain about my own abilities; I'd always enjoyed community development and the CPD element to my work yet, in this new role, it felt limited. I'd been making the best of it though, building networks and seeking out partnership opportunities. I began to look at ways to improve the library offer for families with children under five with a view to helping to reduce the gaps in attainment and increase their life opportunities. I made links with settings, the toy library, Early Years practitioners, and started to attend NYMAZ Early Years song share events to increase my repertoire to use at story times.

'I'd heard that NYMAZ were awarding bursaries for practitioners to study the CME in Early Years and, after some helpful conversations with previous students and the NYMAZ team, I decided that I'd like to apply for the course and have the chance to learn new skills and open some new career opportunities.

'The CME:EC is a fabulous course which brings together a wide range of Early Years practitioners and musicians. There were other people there who were interested in storytelling, and there was a wide range of skills and experience in my cohort, so everybody had something to contribute to discussions and group work. The tutors and mentors are passionate about Early Years music education and really encouraged me to become a reflective practitioner, build on my existing skills, and step out of my comfort zone. The core learning days were informative and practical, supporting my learning and reflective practice whilst sharing repertoire, session planning tips and details on how the Early Years Learning Goals can be achieved and  evidenced  through Kodaly, Dalcroze and child-led, play-centred pedagogy. It was fun to spend time with the rest of my cohort and build the support network which would be so important when I was 'home alone' completing the various tasks.

'I really enjoyed learning new skills and techniques which I could use in my work, and I loved the research and written elements to the coursework. There were some parts of the course that I found incredibly difficult because I hadn't worked in that way previously, but the regular mentor support sessions and the online course common room helped me to keep working towards completion and explore how I could complete the tasks in a way that best suited my interests, skills and work. I became more confident as an Early Years practitioner because of completing the course and have a more creative approach to my work due to being part of a network with other practitioners. I had a definite 'lightbulb moment' completing assignments on equality and diversity; I realised how my skills, interests and work really came together, helping me to identify how inclusion is key to my practice and how I could develop further in my work.

'Studying and working towards the CME:EC has completely changed my life and I would recommend the course to anyone who is interested to develop their work practice. Since completing the course, I have changed jobs and I now work for Hull Libraries as the Festival Producer for The Big Malarkey Festival. There are lots of fabulous musicians and Early Years practitioners delivering high-quality music education activities for under-fives at the festival, and next year I hope to include more child-led musical play opportunities for young children in the festival programme too.'

Seah's story

'I took part in the CME course with Bristol Beacon in the first year that it ran. I chose to take part in the course as I was already working for Bristol Beacon as an assistant on some community music projects. It was a great opportunity for me as it was the first year that the course ran, meaning that we, as the first cohort of participants, would help shape the future courses by testing and providing feedback. I really enjoyed getting to train alongside the people that I did and learned a lot, not just from the facilitators, but also from my fellow participants as there was lots of room for discussion and sharing of skills and tools for different types of group work.

'It has been a very long time since I originally did the course but, since completing, I have continued to work over many different community music projects using the tools and skills that I learned back then, as well as having access to a lot of theory to back up my work, which I gained from the course. Currently, I am a facilitator on the CME course run by Bristol Beacon. The course looks quite different to how it did back when I was a participant, but every year the team running the course for Bristol Beacon work very hard to improve the resources and make the course more and more accessible, which has been great to be a part of. I continue to learn from the CME, both from the other facilitators and also from the different participants that come to do the course.'

To find the right CME course for you, check out the Study for the CME pages of our website.