Learning made fun

Merry Christmas And A Happy 2016

Everyone at Musical Minis and the Learning Made Fun Blog wishes you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Enjoy the festive break and we look forward to seeing some of you in 2016.

Musical Minis Launches Brand New Online Booking System

At Musical Minis we recently launched a new online booking facility. The service, has started to be rolled out to all the franchise territories and will allow parents to book and pay for classes online for the first time, benefitting parents and resulting in a significant decrease in administration for franchisees.

Previously class bookings and fees were taken by franchisees before or after classes, backed up with individually produced emails and letters reminding parents of new term dates, birthday party options and reminders. Now the entire system will be online and automated, saving franchisees time both during and after classes and potentially increasing profits, as families find it easier to buy online via PayPal or credit card.

A useful feature of the new facility is the ability for parents to see how many places are left in each class, encouraging them to book their place there and then, rather than miss out. Once they are registered it is also easy to add an additional child or renew for the following term.

Alongside the online booking the system will also send out Happy Birthday emails and produce reports for franchisees showing retention rates, membership levels and referral data. Franchisees can create data bases of their members and online registers allowing them to communicate far more effectively with their customers.

Teesside franchisee Caroline Docherty said, "This new booking system is making so much difference to my business and, in reality, my life; I’m really excited that it is available in my territory. As much as I love teaching the classes, the paperwork has always been a bit of a chore but now, with online registers, booking forms and automated reminders, I have so much more free time to devote to my classes, marketing my business and ultimately, time with my family."

Founder Karen Sherr said, "Coming hot on the heels of the interactive app we developed to celebrate our 25th anniversary, Musical Minis is yet again at the forefront of using technology to benefit our franchisees and their businesses. It has taken many months of development to produce this totally bespoke booking system and we know it is going to appeal to lots of new franchisees, as they look for increasingly automated support systems from their franchisors."

The online booking system is being launched franchise by franchise. So far you can book online for Berkshire, Merseyside, South Lincs, South Wales, Southern Home Counties and Teesside. The other areas will be available shortly.

Support The Nepalese Community

If you've been touched by the news in Nepal and want to help out, HVP is a very worthy cause.

HVP Nepal is uniquely placed to provide support directly to those in local communities most affected by the earthquake. Their schools and projects in Kathmandu, Thali and Dang - all places affected by the earthquake - are already embedded in communities, run by local staff, and engaging the most vulnerable.

Help them do as much as they can to help those who might otherwise slip through the gaps of the relief effort.

My daughter Emily volunteered at one of their charity schools a few years ago. Thankfully the schools and projects are not seriously affected and have suffered no casualties. HVP Nepal-UK is volunteer-led so 100% of your donation will go to where is it most needed in Nepal https://www.justgiving.com/hvpukdonations/  

It’s Official! UK Franchise Organisation Is Helping Create ‘happier more content’ children!

As founder of UK-based children’s music and singing franchise Musical Minis I have welcomed a report that says children who take part in activities such as singing nursery rhymes, are likely to be happier, with better developed social, motor and speech skills, than their TV watching counterparts.

The report entitled ‘Happiness and Development in Very Young Children’ by Oxford University and the Open University, states that toddlers who spend a lot of time watching TV or looking at picture books are less likely to be happy than those who take part in activities. Television was actually found to have a negative effect on a child’s happiness.

Economics experts analysed data on more than 800 two and three year olds, where their mothers were asked about the youngsters’ happiness and the development of their speech, movement and social skills and what activities they had done in the preceding two weeks. They found that those who took part in ‘active play’ developed better skills and were more content; for example, painting or arts and crafts led to improved motor skills, while reading, telling stories and singing boosted their speech.

Children who often took part in active pursuits with their parents were also happier.

Dr Laurence Roope, of the Health Economics Research Centre at Oxford University said, 'Of course parents can't engage their young children in these activities every hour of the day, but it is encouraging that time spent reading books to them, painting or joining in with a nursery rhyme could help their development.'

Interestingly, co-author of the report Paul Annand, professor of economics at the Open University said,

'An economic study of very young children is relatively novel, but if our findings are replicated in other research, they could have significant implications for parenting education. It could, for example, allow us to reassess the role of arts in the development of skills and human potential.'

As a qualified child psychologist I have always known that singing was good for a child’s development; it is after all the basis of the Musical Minis programme I developed nearly 25 years ago, plus my franchisees and I see first-hand the improvements in the social skills, speech and co-ordination of the children who attend our classes every week, so we know the findings of the report are right, but it’s still nice to have further confirmation from such a large study.

From a franchise point of view this is obviously great news as well; how wonderful for a potential franchisee, when looking at the wide range of businesses on offer, to not only choose one that will provide them with a fantastic work/life balance and a great income but one that is also proven to create happier, more content children and, should more research be done, might be included in the future development of a children’s education in the UK.

If you would like to find out more information about becoming a Musical Minis franchisee you can download some information here.

Musical MInis South Wales Celebrates St David's Day

Guest blog by Jo Weaving, the South Wales Musical Minis franchisee.

I’m not Welsh but I have lived in Wales for over half my life. Until I had my children I didn’t realise that the Welsh language is taught from pre school level upwards and I didn’t realise quite how much effort is put into celebrating St David’s Day. Schools hold their own Eisteddfods which include poetry, music, creative writing and art. My own children have always gone to school dressed up on St David’s Day - our costumes have ranged from rugby players to leeks and miners. Playschools, nurseries and similar groups hold their own celebrations too. This year, for instance, one of our local playgroups asked all the children to wear red each day, sang simple Welsh songs and ate Welsh cakes.

With this in mind, for several years, I have run a week of classes celebrating St David’s Day, and this year (2014) was no exception. This year we had St David's Day celebrations in our classes in Barry, Bridgend, Pontyclun and Sully.

Many of our Musical Minis came along dressed for the occasion, as did some of the grown up carers. We started our classes by singing a variant of our name song in Welsh. ‘Bore da, sut wyt ti?’ Which means ‘Good Morning, how are you? And for our afternoon sessions ‘Prynhawn da, sut wyt ti?’ Which means ‘Good afternoon, how are you?

When I attended a preschool group in our local library with my youngest, we learnt a few songs in Welsh, so this year, I decided to include a couple of these within our Musical Minis session as well. We sang ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ in the first half of the session, then replaced 2 of our nursery rhymes with a Welsh song using the dog, mouse and horse puppets followed by a finger counting song.

At the end of our sessions each child was given either a Welsh cake, or a daffodil or leek badge to take home with them.

My aim from running these sessions wasn’t to teach the Welsh language but to celebrate the Welsh culture while having lots of fun.

Musical Minis Franchisees Celebrate 30 Years!

Musical Minis, are exhibiting on stand F23 at the Work and Family Show (Excel, London, 21st and 22nd February 2014) and are delighted to report that three of our business owners have recently celebrated 10 years each in business.

Musical Minis in South Lincs, South Wales and Bucks and South Northants have all held parties for parents and their children in their local area, to mark the occasion.

Musical Minis is a music class for children aged from 0-5, designed by franchisor and child psychologist Karen Sherr, to help children’s cognitive, physical and emotional development through the use of music, instruments and stories.

Hazel Morgan, Jo Weaving and Amanda Perkins all have franchises that have been running in their areas for the last ten years and they have also recently renewed their franchise agreements to allow them to carry on running classes for another five years each.

Musical Minis which was founded in 1989, recently scored 100% in a number of categories in the Smith & Henderson Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark Survey including ‘Work/Life Balance’. Franchisor Karen Sherr who is a long-time member of EWIF (Encouraging Women Into Franchising) said,
‘We’re so delighted that Hazel, Jo and Amanda are celebrating ten years of running Musical Minis businesses. They all run their classes quite differently; some work with other class leaders, some of them alone, but the one thing they have in common is that they’re running sustainable, profitable businesses which they fit in and around their children and family lives. I couldn’t be more delighted that the idea I had nearly 25 years ago is still being enjoyed by children across the UK today and even better that it is providing employment and enjoyment to so many at the same time.’

If you would like to know more about running your own Musical Minis business visit us on stand F23 at the Work and Family Show being held at Excel, London or ring Karen Sherr on 020 8868 0001. We do have some complimentary tickets available for the Work and Family Show, email [email protected] if you would like one, subject to availability.

For anyone who enquires about the franchise at the show and then becomes a franchisee within 3 months Musical Minis will pay the VAT on the purchase price. This is a special show offer and not available at any other time.

Meet Musical Minis At The Work And Family Show

The Work and Family Show 2014 provides a great opportunity to find out more about becoming a Musical Minis franchisee and enjoying a better work/life balance.

The Show takes place at Excel London on Friday 21st February and Saturday 22nd February 2014.

Please visit us on Stand number F23 and we will be delighted to tell you more about becoming a Musical Minis franchisee.

We do have some complimentary tickets available so get in touch if you would like to meet us at the show.

Musical Minis Wishes You All A Happy 2014

New Franchisee For Teesside and South Durham Musical Minis

We are delighted to announce that Caroline will be taking over Musical Minis Teesside and South Durham from Katherine at the end of this term. We would like to thank Katherine for firmly establishing Musical Minis in the Teesside and South Durham area and for all the help and training she has given Caroline to ease the franchise transfer. We wish Katherine all the best for the future.

Caroline was first introduced to Musical Minis when she attended a class in Teesside with her daughter, Cora. Caroline saw how much Cora benefitted from the classes over the two years she has been attending and enjoyed watching her develop, becoming more confident and even helping the younger children (particularly her baby brother, Ezra). When the opportunity arose to buy the franchise, Caroline leapt at the chance! Caroline said "I am excited (and a little bit daunted!) to become a Musical Minis franchisee and am looking forward to becoming part of the team and working with all the lovely babies and children in my area!"

In January, Caroline will be running classes in Egglescliffe, Great Ayton, Ingleby Barwick, Redcar and Wolviston with new venues opening later in the year.

Caroline is also looking for people who would be interested in either leading or assisting at sessions.

We are sure that Caroline will make a superb Musical Minis franchisee and we are looking forward to her being part of our network.

To get in touch with Caroline phone her on 01642 272 034 or 07581 549363 or email [email protected]

Musical Minis is ‘Top Of The Pops’ with franchisees in satisfaction survey!

I was delighted that the Musical Minis franchisees are a happy bunch according to the results of our latest franchisee satisfaction survey. The Smith & Henderson survey was completed anonymously by our franchisees and contains 29 questions. Our overall Franchise Satisfaction Benchmark was 89% compared to the 2012 national benchmark average of 69%. The survey broke down the benchmarking into 6 main areas; Training & Support, The System, Culture & Relationships, Stewardship, Value & Rewards and General Satisfaction.

We scored 100% in 12 categories including, Head Office Support, initial training and support, communication and work life balance. Musical Minis franchisees run classes for children aged from 0-5, designed to help their cognitive, physical and emotional development through music, instruments and stories. In additional comments on the survey, franchisees spoke of how running a Musical Minis franchise allowed them to run a profitable business, which fitted in around their families and made them feel as if they were providing a ‘genuine service that is much better than our competitors.’

I think this survey is so important because it allows us to find out exactly what the franchisees are really thinking and thankfully, they seem quite happy! We were above average in 28 out of 29 categories. Naturally there are some areas for improvement, as there is with any business and we’re looking forward to implementing some of the suggestions made in the report.

We see Musical Minis as one big family, all working together and supporting each other; we’ve got some tremendous franchisees, running hundreds of classes across the UK every year and we’re very proud of them all.

Musical Minis provides an opportunity to work and earn an income whilst still having time for yourself. The Musical Minis franchise allows franchisees to balance work and home life, they choose how many hours they want to dedicate to the franchise and what targets they want to set themselves. This flexibility together with the opportunity to work with children are some of the main reasons why I believe our franchise is one of the leading part time franchises for women in the UK.

If you would like to know more about running your own Musical Minis business phone 020 8868 0001 or email [email protected] . To download information about becoming a Musical Minis franchisee click here.