Leading Singing in Secondary Schools: Get them singing, keep them singing

Wednesday 15th November 2023

Twilight training sessions online for anyone working with singers of secondary school age

This brand new flexible course is designed to develop confidence, knowledge and skills for teachers, of all experience levels, who lead secondary-school age singers, whether that's in a choir or in a classroom.

Each half term join us for a 75 minute online CPD session, led by one of our specialist music education team. Each session includes 60 minutes of training plus 15 minutes for questions and discussion. All sessions will be held between 5 and 6.15pm.

The training will be held on Zoom, and a link to the session will be sent out to participants the day before the training. All sessions will be recorded, so you can book to attend the session live or catch up with the recording later at a time to suit you!

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

Full series: all seven sessions can be bought for a bundle price of £85 (non-member) or £55 (abcd member).

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

Session 1 - 26th September: Building a whole-school singing culture with Don Gillthorpe

Having spent a career building highly successful singing programmes in two state comprehensive secondary schools, Don brings a wealth of experience to support and encourage you to do the same. Amongst a whole host of contributing factors to the choral ecosystem in a school, this session will explore the essential interplay between curricular and co-curricular music, matters relating to adolescent vocal development, and how to work with school leadership teams to provide the best experiences for pupils.

Session 2 - 15th November: Adolescent Boys: You've got them singing, but how do you keep them singing? with Ian Crawford & Martin Ashley

In this session Martin Ashley and Ian Crawford will spell out the things you need to do, why you need to do them, and how.

Most of these strategies have been around for some time and they work! All have proved necessary. Some are the result of research, some have been requested by boys, all are practised by teachers with lots of boys in their singing groups.

Session 3 - 17th January: Harmonise and inspire: empowering Year 6 and 7 singers with Suzzie Vango

Suzzie Vango, author of 'how to make your choir sound awesome' introduces some of her vocal techniques and repertoire to encourage and foster a love of singing for Y6 and Y7 children. Learn some fun singing games, warm ups and pop-inspired songs written and arranged for this age group so you can return to school, armed with an array of material to inspire and enhance your students' vocal skills and passion for singing."

Session 4 - 22nd February: Exploring the voice change for females with Joanna Tomlinson

Discover the physiological changes that happen in the female teenage voice and how we can help our singers by having a good understanding of the challenges they may face. We will explore warm-up ideas and approaches to rehearsing that can help nurture and develop the female changing voice as well as tips on choosing repertoire for this age group!

Session 5 - 26th March: Singing's most endangered species - Teenagers with Rachel Staunton

Join Rachel Staunton, Artistic Director and Co Founder of The London Youth Choirs as she shares her learning of engaging and retaining diverse teenagers. With advice on relevant repertoire selection, a steer on warm ups that build skills, stamina and engagement across the adolescents, and insight on embracing new trends and ways of working, Rachel shares her own learnings from setting up 10 youth choirs in the capital city. Driven by Rachel's vision to see the wider choral industry diversify over a generation, this session is set to inspire you in your journey working with young voices in all things to do with singing.

Session 6 - 9th May: Conducting and musical leadership skills with Amy Bebbington

Session 7 - Repertoire, repertoire, repertoire (date tba)

Leading Singing in Secondary Schools: Get them singing, keep them singing
Twilight training sessions online for anyone working with singers of secondary school age This brand new flexible course is designed to develop confidence, knowledge and skills for teachers, of all experience levels, who lead secondary-school age singers, whether that's in a choir or in a classroom. Each half term join us for a 75 m
Wed 15th Nov 2023 - Wed 31st Jul 2024>
Get them singing, keep them singing: leading singing in primary schools
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 se
Thu 30th Nov 2023 - Sun 31st Dec 2023>
Webinar Library
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