Get them singing, keep them singing: leading singing in primary schools

Thursday 30th November 2023

Twilight training sessions online for anyone working with young voices in primary schools

This brand new flexible course is designed to develop confidence, knowledge and skills for all teachers who lead young singers in primary schools, whether in a choir, in a classroom, or the whole school, whatever their experience level.

Each session lasts around 75 minutes, led by one of our specialist music education team.

All the live sessions were recorded and are now available to book - find out more about each session below.

Individual Sessions: £15 per session (non-member) or £10 per session (abcd member)

Full series: all six sessions can be bought for a bundle price of £75 (non-member) or £50 (abcd member).

Find out more about joining abcd and all the benefits it offers here

Session 1: A Voyage of Vocal Discovery with Charles MacDougall

In this session, participants will explore their voice, unlocking their skills and gaining tools for healthy, effective and confident vocal leadership. This session will be suitable for those totally new to leading singing, as well as more experienced vocalists looking to refresh their thinking!

Session 2: Vocal Health and Engaging Warm Up Ideas with Suzzie Vango

Join Suzzie Vango, conductor for the National Children's Choir of Great Britain and voice coach to the CBSO Youth Choruses, as she leads you through some fun, engaging and healthy vocal warm ups and songs aimed at younger singers. Be prepared to act your shoe size, not your age!

Session 3: Repertoire Ideas with Tom Leech and Shivani Rattan

Join us as we share and chat about our favourite repertoire to engage primary school-aged children, whether in whole-class singing or choirs. We'll be singing through a diverse range of songs for whole class singing and choirs and give you the tools needed to teach them in the most effective and fun way possible!

Session 4: The Teacher as Musical Leader with Amy Bebbington

This session shows how leading music can be realised through a variety of different skills. Amy covers strategies ranging from pitch scaffolding and solfa hand signs, to kinaesthetic gestures and simple beat patterns in order to equip teachers with a broad range of useful singing leadership skills. Come and be inspired and enlightened by the potential of your musical making in classrooms, school assemblies, performances and playgrounds.

Session 5: Using singing as a tool to deliver the curriculum with Rebecca Berkley

Dr Rebecca Berkley, University of Reading, leads a webinar on using singing as the basis for teaching classroom musicianship to children aged 5-11. This session investigates ways to build classroom music lessons from singing for children in year 1-6. Participants will explore how to teach musicianship skills by integrating singing with work on beat and rhythm, pitch awareness, movement and action, aural training and the beginning of reading and writing music, and analyse classroom songs to help pick age-appropriate repertoire for the classroom.

Session 6: Developing two part and ensemble singing with Jo McNally and Richard Jeffries

Join Richard Jeffries and Jo McNally as they take you through the twists and turns of the part-singing path. There'll be ideas, repertoire and a plan to help your singer to develop confidence, musicianship skills, and sing with joy as they progress from unison to part-singing, from adapting repertoire you may currently use, to exploring exciting newer materials - and where to find them! Join us for a practical, fun and fully interactive session!

Purchase recordings of the previous sessions through the link below (sessions are listed by date).

Come and Sing with John Rutter
11am - 4.45pm, The Coton Centre, Comberford Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire B79 9AA We're delighted that abcd President, John Rutter, will be leading our Midlands Singing Day! Described as "one of the most influential choral composers of our time", he has recently been awarded Fellowship of The Ivor's Academy (2023) in recognition of his
Sat 13th Apr 2024>
Choral Conducting: An Intermediate Guide
Choral Conducting: An Intermediate Guide Saturday 17th February, Saturday 20th April 2024 9.30am - 4.30pm, St Andrew's Church, Waterloo, London SE1 8LJ Two one-day training events for everyone who has either successfully completed our Initial or Emerging level of training, or those who already have experience of leading a choir regul
Sat 20th Apr 2024>
Leading Singing in Secondary Schools: Get them singing, keep them singing
Twilight training sessions online for anyone working with singers of secondary school age Each session includes 60 minutes of training plus 15 minutes for discussion. Session are held on Zoom, from 5 to 6.15pm, with a link sent out to participants the day before. All sessions are recorded, so you can attend the session live or catch
Mon 6th May 2024 - Wed 31st Jul 2024>