Training Course

How We Can Help

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.

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.

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

We run the course in both York and London in November. Further details about our 2025 course will be released in late spring 2025.

The course has opened up so many opportunities for me to work with the kids at school in a way that is more meaningful for them and expressive. I feel more confident to step back a little more and allow the space for more to happen as I feel I better understand expectations and purpose.

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.

• Embedded form – course sign up

We also provide training in specialist school settings. We include training in all our schools projects as well as running specific training workshops for staff in specialist schools. We also offer training for music hubs and instrumental tutors wanting to develop their skills in supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. To find out more contact us.