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SPECIALLYMUSIC
TARGET GROUPS
ARE WE ALL MUSICIANS?
DO WE ALL PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT?
WHAT HAVE WE TO OFFER?
HAVE WE PUBLISHED ANY MATERIAL?
FOUNDERS
Enter Irene, Mavis, Jan and Valda. Irene Peace was probably one of the first
teachers in the country to be trained specifically for children who have special
needs. Mavis West taught in the same school. Jan Holdstock was senior lecturer
at Beckett Park and Valda Stephenson was a special needs teacher in Kirklees
with an interest in music. Through work and family circumstance each woman
had developed an interest in teaching music to children with learning difficulties,
confounding their critics who saw teaching these children anything was a waste
of time - let alone music.
EARLY BEGINNINGS
Their activities generated great interest in the region of Yorkshire and Humberside.
A packed out meeting at Leeds-based John Taylor Teachers Centre in 1979 saw
the formation of YHAMSE - The Yorkshire and Humberside Association for Music
in Special Education. At this meeting they established that children with
learning difficulties had as much right to musical education as anyone else
if not more.
At first they concentrated on children with moderate or severe learning difficulties who attended the various and numerous special schools including Armley Grange. It was here that people came to observe Mavis and the team deliver music to their pupils. Thus was born the YAMSEN training and workshops programme, which have continued till the present-day
THE PEOPLE
The YHAMSE committee included representatives from the different areas of
Yorkshire and Humberside, such as Angela Wooton from Pontefract.
Many of the early members wrote and adapted songs to make up for the lack of suitable material. These included Mavis West, Anne Gilliam, Gordon Parry, Jan Holdstock and Angela Wooton, eventually culminating in the Earwiggo books written principally by Mavis and Jan
At Beckett Park College Jan Holdstock explored ways of teaching these children as part of her teacher training course. It was here that two of her students, Diane Sahel (nee King ) and Gordon Parry in particular developed an interest in teaching music to children with special needs. They both became dedicated members of the committee
NEW NAME
More recently with the altering of regional boundaries the 'H' for Humberside
has been dropped and the working name of YAMSEN has been adopted-meaning the
Yorkshire Association for Music and Special Educational Needs.
YAMSEN MEMBERSHIP
Members generally work with or care for children/adults with special needs
and have an interest in using music to improve their lives. They are by no
means all music specialists and do not regard themselves as musicians. There
are, of course, music specialists - even composers - amongst the ranks. However
the ethos of this organisation from the very start was of total musical inclusion.
The membership represents a whole
region. Members can join as individuals or as part of an organisation such
as a school or days centre. YAMSEN reaches out on a regular basis to over
3000 individuals a year and these individuals represent every time of ethnicity,
economic background and geographical location from inner-city to hillside
villages.
In the future YAMSEN plans to develop the Gordon Parry Centre as a regional resource and continue to provide its first-class annual programme and specially designed music of events and training.
The Gordon Parry Centre
This Centre, administered jointly by art forms and YAMSENn, is a centre of
excellence entry sources designed to support music making for those who has
special needs. It is very much work in progress. It is named after the late
Gordon Parry an active member of YAMSEN from the early Eighties until his
untimely death in 2002. It is used on a daily basis by teachers responsible
for teaching music to children from across Leeds who have special educational
needs. projects are around on weekdays in the centre followed by sessions
in schools
ROOMS
One room is for intensive interaction sessions with children who are on the
autistic spectrum. With its bail walls and a solitary piano, this could not
be more removed in style from a multisensory room. The large glass from will
become a multisensory music room. This will be purpose-built and permanently
set out for small groups to use all year round. He will be all the equipment
from switches to nights that you would need to create multisensory musical
environment. The great advantage of having all the quota in in situ is that
it gives great flexibility and allows the staff to follow any direction at
the children's imagination takes them. The garrison instrument library, these
sources and music books are housed in its storms
THE INSTRUMENT AND MUSIC BOOK
LIBRARY
The instrument library has recently been restart using money from various
charitable trusts namely: The Leaner Foundation, Leeds Hospital Fund, several
anonymous donor's, and collections from the funeral of Gordon Parry and later
that of Rachel Baillie (a pupil who did her work experience in the centre).
Advice was given by Edwina Sharp of LMS Music Supplies and all the equipment has been bought with children with special needs in mind, paying careful attention to such things as easy grip beaters, tone bars especially for children who are deaf, large vibro-tactile instruments for those who are deaf blind. Conventional instruments such as steel pans chime bars, bell plates, hand percussion are all included. Some of these are only lent out with training. There is also a music book library and collections of props which can be borrowed by members.
OUR VISION
For the future YAMSEN plans to continue developing its existing outstanding
programme which responds to the musical news of children and adults with many
and various learning difficulties and disabilities. Our particular plans are
to continue updating our resources, web site and the instrument library. We
have been and we will be influenced by changes in:
LOCATION Situated at the West Park Centre in a building which houses other musicians and artists, the Gordon Parry Centre has already become a very convenient drop-in centre for those who encounter children or adults with special needs and would like advice about suitable instruments and teaching techniques.
YAMSEN formerly YHAMSE Established in 1979
