As partners in the Tri-Borough Early Years Music Consortium, the music/arts partner organisations have collectively created and established the following set of commitments:

1.     Why music in the EY?

We can:

•        Articulate why music in the early years is important
•        Explain why we as organisations offer EY within our programmes
•        Clearly articulate the aims of our programmes, what we hope participants may gain from involvement, and be open to and value possibilities of outcomes/ impact not anticipated
•        Clearly articulate the purpose of the EY programmes/projects we offer, e.g. whether they are:

o   entertainment

o   educational

o   participatory

o   interactive

o   experiential

o   combination 

•        Understand and appreciate the many different motivations that exist to ‘justify’ and engage with EY music making

We advocate for children’s rights to cultural, artistic and creative experiences and that music is an integral aspect of early childhood development.

2.     Working with musicians

We have:

•        Clear and robust recruitment procedures when recruiting early years music leaders, including:

o   a clear selection criterion involving required skills, knowledge and experience

o   person specification including desirable characteristics

•        A commitment to supporting and expanding the early years music workforce through providing appropriate training, practice sharing, and professional development opportunities.

3.     Valuing and listening to all that engage in our EY programmes

We continuously:

•        Seek and explore ways to authentically listen to all that engage and participate in our programmes
•        Strive to effectively gather meaningful feedback and engage in dialogue with children, parents, carers, educators, musicians
•        Reflect on the feedback we gather to inform the development of our EY programmes

4.     Partnership work

We:

•        Work in partnership with other people and organisations
•        Understand the value of and commit to working together with others (people and organisations) to enable positive outcomes for children and their families.

5.     Reflective practice

We:

•        Continue to reflect on our programmes as individual organisations and with people and partners in the TBEYMC and outside of the TBEYMC
•        Learn more by saying that we don’t know the answers and being prepared to explore and discuss difficult questions