Pebble lets Musical Bumps wave goodbye to chasing payments

Maree Waller runs Musical Bumps Croydon, offering music sessions for babies, toddlers and preschoolers across her London neighbourhood. In her local church hall, nurseries, children’s centres and preschools, her sessions support language development through song and musical play. As children engage and happily sing along, their social and emotional development is supported, too.

Maree grew up and qualified as a primary school teacher in rural Tasmania, then came to London in her mid-20s. “Teaching in London schools was a bit of a wake-up call, and I became disillusioned with the expectations placed on teachers. But I knew I wanted to work in education of some sort,” she says.

After dabbling in backpacker jobs — working in bars and restaurants, driving a van, nannying, travel consultancy — she found an environmental education job, visiting schools to run outreach sessions on recycling and saving resources. 

That suited her nicely for a time but soon a baby came along, which prompted a new direction. “I wanted to find a job in education that worked with being a parent,” Maree shares. “I’ve also sung in choirs and played instruments for years, and did a music major as part of my degree. So, when I went along to a Nearly New sale run by the NCT (National Childbirth Trust) and picked up a flyer saying Want an alternative career singing with young children?, I thought: Yeah!”

That was back in the early days of Musical Bumps, so Maree learned on the job and loved it from day one. “I built my business from there and have never looked back — and I’ve been doing this for 17 years.”

Singing happiness for children and grown-ups

Musical Bumps bases its teaching on the Hungarian musician Kodaly’s methods, then mixes in backing tracks with the child and adult voices. “Every session is centred on singing and, as the children get older, we encourage solo singing and pitch matching, all while making it fun and welcoming. It’s about encouraging every child (and adult!), whatever their level of confidence is when singing. I have parents from all backgrounds, cultures and languages, and I love that my classes reflect London like that,” smiles Maree. 

Her baby classes focus on parent-child bonding and creating an uplifting atmosphere: “It’s about endorphins, those happy hormones that singing releases. When you’re a new parent, it can be so hard. But even if the day’s been awful so far, singing will give us a lift.” 

For the two and three-year-olds, Maree brings in a focus for each session, like props, themes and colours. Then her preschool classes for ages three and four start to look more closely at rhythm, while still ensuring a sense of pulse (or beat) underpins all the musical learning. “We use body percussion to ‘feel’ the beat, then progress to clapping or stamping the rhythm and transfer that knowledge to reading simple rhythm patterns,” Maree expands. 

“I might walk into a nursery room where there are a couple of unsettled children but, as soon as I sit down and start some happy singing, a switch flips and they immediately engage. Music is so important for connecting and feeling good.”

Pebble bumps up efficiency 

“I love what Pebble is doing,” shares Maree. “It’s progressive, innovative, proactive.” Musical Bumps Croydon joined Pebble in summer 2023, and Maree shares some highlights so far: 

Taking payments per booking

“I was using sign-up forms before, and I was having to chase people for money all the time. Pebble gives me that time back,” she says. “It makes everything so much more efficient. When someone makes a booking and they have to pay at the time… that’s a win!”

Moving children from class to class

Maree’s a big fan of this functionality, which saves her time copying over class lists and parents’ details. 

Inbuilt marketing

“Parents and nurseries have come to me because they’ve seen me on Pebble,” Maree shares. “You get exposure and you get support.”

To read more about Pebble’s award-winning management software for children's activity providers, click here.