What's on Calendar

• Do you work in early years or SEND and want to support your pupils to access singing and songs more readily?
• Do you run community music projects or choirs and want to explore ways in which you can make music and singing more accessible?

To make singing and song more available to children and adults with communication difficulties, Create North is working with Together in Music to establish 20 Makaton choirs across the northeast between now and 2022.

Makaton

As said on Makaton UK website “Makaton is a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs and speech to enable people to communicate. Being able to communicate is one of the most important skills we need in life.

With Makaton, signs are used, with speech, in spoken word order. This helps provide extra clues about what someone is saying. Using signs can help people who have no speech or whose speech is unclear. Using symbols can help people who have limited speech and those who cannot, or prefer not to speak.

For those who have experienced the frustration of being unable to communicate meaningfully or effectively, Makaton really can help. Makaton takes away that frustration and enables individuals to connect with other people and the world around them.”

Accessible singing

To support the development of our 20 Makaton choirs we are offering a heavily subsidised package of support to practitioners working in early years settings, SEND schools and community music projects and choirs.

The package includes

• Makaton training in Level One and Two: This training will take place on 2^nd and 9^th November 2021.
• Using Makaton with signing workshops: This training will take place on 16^th November 2021
• Makaton manuals
• Makaton certification
• One to one support to help you start or develop your choir in school or in the community.
• Opportunities to perform and participate in Sing and Sign events.

Cost

The cost of this provision is:

• £70 for the full package
• If you are already trained in Makaton 1&2 you can access this support for £40

Workshop tutors: Peter Rooney is an experienced Makaton tutor.

Clare Hunt has used Makaton in songs for many years.

Peter LOVEs signing and has used Makaton for over 30 years working with people with learning difficulties/disabilities and with his son Billy, who has Down’s syndrome and is on the autism spectrum. He has taught all over the world and runs a Signing Choir in Newcastle. His Favourite sign is: “GOLD”.

Clare has been a music teacher and music therapist for twenty years. She has also worked in many other settings and has trained teachers/TAs and music practitioners across the country in the use of music with children and young people with additional needs. Clare is the writer of the Sing Up resource, Crackers Maracas.

Register your interest and we will get back to you with information on how to access this support.