We are delighted to get back to onsite training at Boogie Mites! It was great to launch Boogie Mites at Whitfield Wise Owls Preschool in Kent during the February 2022 half term week.
Since the pandemic we now have various options or combinations that we can offer to optimise practitioners training experience and therefore the impact of the new music provision on children’s musical experiences and associated development.
The last 2 years have seen a transformation of Boogie Mites digital products and services.
Digital Transformation
While face to face training has been on hold over the last 2 years, we have not been sitting around waiting for it to restart! It’s been a whirlwind journey getting Boogie Mites business online. Transforming from a community based, face to face delivery model, relying on word of mouth recommendations, to an online delivery model, enhanced digital resources, using digital marketing to reach out nationally and internationally.
Our digital presence has leapt ahead thanks to the commitment of our head office team, teachers and trainers, some of whom had no IT skills 2 years ago and now run zoom training, Facebook live sessions and use google forms instead of printed forms (good for the planet too!).
So although it has been a really tough 2 years for the business in so many ways, the digital transformation has brought its benefits. We have also created video training that supports quality of music provision longer term, making it a more sustainable provision. In January 2022, we launched self-paced training packages for our 3 core music programmes School Ready, Minis and Teenies, which include a videos series covering the neuromusical evidence presented by Dr Anita Collins.
EYPP Funding Fits Boogie Mites Training and Resources
You might be considering how to best spend your EYPP funding this year. We hear from many customers that spending this funding on training and resources for their team not only supports the current funded children but supports all children present and future plus it boosts staff skills and morale. Here is some feedback:
“I only came across Boogie Mites at the beginning of the year and I can only wish that I had found it sooner! I happened to come across it whilst I was looking into ways of increasing our children’s progress in ‘Communication and Language’ as it was an area in which many of our children were underachieving. I decided to purchase the ‘School Ready’ programme initially and I haven’t looked back. The children have made phenomenal progress in my setting with the help of regular Boogie Mites group times, and even after almost a year our children are still excited when they hear a mention of ‘Boogie Mites’ It is without a doubt one of our most popular group times! This term we have decided to use some EYPP funding to purchase some more Boogie Mites programmes – including the Maths and Healthy Living programmes. I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending Boogie Mites to anyone caring for children in the early years and the extensive learning outcomes for children that it offers makes it very good value for money and what I believe should be an essential piece of ‘toolkit’ within the industry.” Emma Berry, Manager, Scamps Pre-School, East Worthing
“Our Pre-school had heard about Boogie Mites through some research we did with ‘I CAN’ as we were trying to improve our provision for children in this area and in particular children who were having difficulty with listening skills and were on our EYPP register. We decided to purchase training and the ‘School Ready’ pack with our extra funding for EYPP, we introduced it to all of the children not just the children who were in receipt of the EYPP. I can only wish that we had found it sooner! There isn’t one member of our team that doesn’t enjoy leading this session and always feel it is of value and that the children take something from every session. As soon as the children hear the music you can hear them saying ‘its tap your sticks’ and they head for the group time mat because ‘it’s fun’. We can only recommend ‘Boogie Mites’ as an essential programme to support the children’s learning and development.” Christine Nicholson, Manager, St. Mark’s Pre-school, Darlington, Co Durham.
“Boogie Mites delivered inset training for all practitioners from the Paint Pots Nurseries in June 2016. Due to the inclusive and group-focused nature of the programme, we considered that it would be the most cost effective way of utilising our EYPP money as our staff would have opportunities to develop skills for all current and future children. The aim was to extend practitioners understanding of language development and foundations for literacy development in the Early Years Foundation Stage through training and implementing the music programmes for the 2-3’s ( Boogie Mites Minis) and the 3-5’s (Boogie Mites School Ready Programme). Boogie Mites has been incorporated in the daily routines across all age ranges within Paint Pots since June 2016. To assess the impact of the implementation of regular Boogie Mites activities on children’s development, providing evidence of the outcomes of the EYPP investment, a study of quantitative and qualitative (case studies) was undertaken in November 2016. The management software provides an attainment graph which allows us to estimate the average rate of development for different periods. Since introduction of Boogie Mites, the results show a marked increase in the rate of development for both boys and girls at the nursery compared to the previous year. Girls and boys across the settings have shown an average development rate increase of almost five months in comparison to the same period the previous year. Staff perceive that this increase in development rate compared to the same time last year can be attributed, at least in part, to the introduction of the regular Boogie Mites music making practice. The case studies of individual EYPP funded children also identified a positive impact on development.” Cat Baker, Quality and Curriculum Manager Paint Pots
We continue to work with Paint Pots nurseries supporting ongoing training and resources. In January 2022 they upgraded to include the neuroscience videos courses and online training course introduction and summary for School Ready and Minis Programmes. A few of their nurseries also purchased the Teenies, under 2’s, programme.
Launch with Onsite Training
Our favourite mode of training is still onsite! If the budget is available, we encourage you to launch Boogie Mites at your nursery via onsite training to benefit from the team building and motivation boost of this fun, interactive training session. There will still be access to the online training course but practitioners will start this course and the trial of songs, with boosted motivation, confidence and knowledge.
Here is an example agenda:
- Introductions, singing hellos and Welcome Song
- Neuroscience Evidence
- Group exercise – benefits of music by EYFS area
- Links to the revised Birth to 5 Matters
- Songs from the Boogie Mites programme being covered
- Music Development Matters and observing musical behaviours
- Group exercise – watch video of songs in action and discuss music behaviours and development opportunities observed
- Customer Hub online resources, including a six-week training plan to implement the songs into your setting
- Measuring the impact on the children
- Intent, implementation and the impact overview of the training course
Support with Online Live Webinars
We can also offer a live webinar to introduce a new programme to a nursery or nursery group. We have recently completed Minis training for Kiddi Caru Nurseries, launched and concluded via an online live webinar.
Here is some feedback from practitioners who attended:
“I love your enthusiasm for what you do. The online launch and end of course live training was great, I have had amazing feedback already.” Linzi Lown, Professional Development Specialist, Grandir, UK
“The course is informative, fun and easy to follow. The songs have catchy themes that engage the children, they are learning without realising they are learning.” Natasha Hyslop, Kiddi Caru Charnwood
“Amazing quality, very simple layout and informative. The zoom calls were very friendly and enjoyable.” Beth Clark, Kiddi Caru Parkgate
We have also started to offer a monthly live webinar in which we collaborate with an early years expert in the theme being covered. These are great both as a taster for potential customers and as a refresher for practitioners at settings that have a Boogie Mites programme already.
Here is some feedback from our recent Music and Mood and Music and Literacy training evenings:
“Boogie Mites brings language and literacy development to life for children and adults in ways that are fun and memorable.” Mim Brown, NDNA, Associate Trainer and Quality Counts Assessment Team
“I don’t have a musical bone in my body, yet I have always used music to regulate my emotions. Especially when I am driving or bored I use upbeat music to change my mood. Yet not once did it occur to me to use music the same way with my children. When I heard that, I felt like “duh, of course!” We do use a lot of other self-reg strategies but never used music before. Calming music, yes once or twice, but upbeat to up-regulate, never. Today I learned a lot with Boogie Mites UK Limited, and Dr Mine Conkbayir – the potential of music to shape our brains. Great session! Thank you.” Nikita Phadnavis, Emotional Intelligence Program Leader
You can find out more about our training options via the buttons below. Or email [email protected] to set up a meeting to discuss planning a bespoke training package for your team.
