Time flies by when you start a new role, and six weeks in feels like a good opportunity to pause and take stock.

As you can imagine, these early days have been all about meeting people.

I have learnt a lot through numerous one to one conversations and team meetings – and know that I have the privilege of leading an organisation full of colleagues who are highly experienced in what they do and passionate about working with young people and school leadership teams.

That enthusiasm has even promoted me to dust off a clarinet which has been safely stored away for 30 years! Regarding our work as a Music Service, there is no substitute for seeing the sharp end of what we do.

There will be more of this in the weeks to come but I was delighted to attend the Soloists Evening at Bishop Vesey’s School where the musical talent displayed by all involved was so impressive. To meet some of our younger customers, I had a fun afternoon attending singing lessons at Hallfield School – and taking part in some warm-up exercises!

Developing partnerships with other like-minded individuals is key to our work, and so it has been important to begin to develop a relationship with organisations such as the Arts Council, Birmingham City Council, Birmingham Education Partnership and the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

We have the privilege of working in a city which is rich in diversity and working in partnership enables us to do so much more. I look forward to those relationships developing in the weeks and months to come.

As I write this, we are in an uncertain political landscape with a General Election around the corner.

The landscape for education is always challenging – with schools currently responding to changes in the Ofsted Framework. Our specialist advisers are on stand-by to work with schools either through training courses or on an individual basis, and this may be the ideal time to benefit from their expertise.

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I am looking forward to attending our December Concerts.  We would love you to join us on 14^th or 15^th December at University of Birmingham’s Elgar Concert Hall – tickets are available here . I can guarantee you a memorable evening – conveniently the first night of our annual Youth Proms concert in July, was the night before my final interview!

The concerts will be a great opportunity for me to meet some of our ensemble team – as well as our students and their parents.

Do watch out for further blogs –  in the meantime, and please don’t hesitate to be in touch if you would like to know more about partnering with Services For Education or exploring how we can support you.

(sharon.bell@servicesforeducation.co.uk; twitter: @sharonbellSFE)