York Suzuki Early Childhood Education was set up in January 2020 by Laura Wingrove to meet the demand for Suzuki music sessions in York for children aged 0-3. The classes are taught by highly trained Suzuki teachers, with a wealth of experience.

After a successful first term the decision was made to put classes online to allow our families to continue their musical journey, despite the outbreak of Covid-19. We are so excited to be finally back to face to face classes this term, whilst also maintaining our online classes for those that are not able to attend face to face sessions.

This has been a challenging year, and I am very humbled to have received some wonderful feedback, including some awards from the York Mumbler Love Local Awards.

• ‘These music classes are just wonderful. Friendly, welcoming, and musically of a really high standard. It’s wonderful to see the individual attention each child receives, and the little ways they progress both musically and socially week by week. Laura is a fantastic teacher and really observes and engages with the children.’

• ‘Laura is a wonderful teacher of all ages and her classes are a gentle, warm, inclusive way of beginning the musical journey of every child, but also developing them as people and offering a friendly, supportive place for parents and carers.’

• ‘We enjoyed Laura’s weekly classes pre-lockdown, but she was very quick and efficient to shift the class online via Zoom in anticipation of lockdown. It’s been a joy to participate every week in this structured,calming class, and my little boy really looks forward to it. It’s been an absolute bonus that these classes have been run free of charge (even though we have offered to pay as we see such value in its content), and you are able to “attend” more than once a week if you wish – good for rainy days.’

• ‘Laura generously offered her online classes free of charge and re-created the calm, safe and nurturing environment of her classes online. This is no easy feat with a group of toddlers! The weekly group has made such a difference to our life in lockdown, it is the only time we have consistently had where we have felt connected to other families and our child has been excited to take part and has grown in confidence. Thank you Laura for your generosity.’

• ‘This class has kept us going throughout lockdown. Laura has put her classes online twice a week completely free of charge, found creative ways to replicate all the musical activities, and also to engage every single child individually. During this difficult time her classes have been a real lifesaver. It’s also been lovely to see the children actually continuing to progress in tiny ways week by week, so it’s been great for their development even though she hasn’t been able to teach in person.’

• ‘Laura has continued to run her classes online free of charge since lockdown began. She has worked hard to develop a way of interacting personally with all her families.’

• ‘Laura moved her classes online and has been generously offering these free of charge. This has been our regular link to the outside world, a reassuring and known repertoire of music for our child, an opportunity to see other children in a calm, structured and nurturing online setting. Our child has been looking forward to these sessions every week, and it has been wonderful to take part in these together and watch them grow in confidence. Thank you Laura, lockdown truly wouldn’t have been the same without you!’