🎉 Meet the award-winning Rugby woman who is helping children grow through music 🎉
This latest piece has been supplied by Ali Findlay. She has just retired from nearly 28 years of teaching in secondary schools. Ali is on a mission to find some of those places, people, events and hobbies that are often overlooked in Rugby.
In July 2023, Anneka Hurst, formerly a Religious Studies teacher and Head of Humanities at a Secondary school in Rugby decided to follow a different career path and buy a business called Rhythm Time off previous owner, Becky.
She had attended some interesting, highly enjoyable musical courses designed for babies, toddlers and those of pre-school age with her own small children and decided to take the plunge and become the 4th owner of the already 30 year old enterprise.
Anneka has worked full-time, Tuesday to Saturday (every alternate weekend) to expand her franchise and popular classes are now held in Hillmorton Community Centre, Dunchurch Baptist Church and Cawston Community Hall - those being just the Rugby venues.
Her co-teacher, Alice, then joined the team to run the well-attended programme in the Coventry area. Jade, the indispensable Admin Assistant has been a most welcome addition to support now that there are no longer 22 families participating - but a staggering 320!
So, what does Rhythm Time actually offer? It is essentially learning through music, via muti-sensory methodology, to support brain and physical development in the under 5s.
Through play, use of props (such as puppets, castanets etc) and experimentation with real instruments, small children can improve various key skills – like cognition, the ability to be more independent (and, conversely, social) and language acquisition.
Parents stay to experience the fun with their little ones; they also benefit from being able to take expert advice on board for further home learning. It is not only a wonderful opportunity for family bonding but, in addition, as Anneka explained ‘gives tired parents a chance to breathe’, as it is a supportive ‘village’ community.
This nurturing individual loves her job: ‘It’s so beautiful’.
As she helps children understand phonics through nursery rhymes, tempo through dance, composition and pitch, most lucky recipients of the teaching move forward in life to play an instrument/ join a choir.
Anneka adores witnessing the perfect moments when babies have started to crawl and toddlers have taken their first steps.
She treasures the unique subjects of innocent conversation: ‘I have a banana in the car!’; ‘Look! I’ve picked a daisy!’. Furthermore, she is such a support to parents. When in need of a bit of reassurance, Anneka has often served as a comforting shoulder to cry on….
Anneka was a well-deserving finalist in the What’s On For Kids National Awards for the honour of ‘Outstanding Newcomer’ and she was Franchisee of the Year twice for Rhythm Time.
In future, she is hoping to hold even more sessions in nurseries, like the one currently in Prepcare in Cromwell Road. She would also like to recruit another class teacher in West Northants, which would offer someone part-time flexible hours. It’s all happening!
If you would like to contact Anneka – about attending a course with your child or for more information regarding the upcoming job vacancy, you can call her on 07591 720345 or email her: anneka.h@rhythmtime.org.