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Liz Bryant Head of Music, at Darrick Wood School in Kent has taken her young choir on three choir tours to the continent. This summer they had a fantastic tour to Lake Garda in Italy.
In the second of her blogs, Liz describes how her own singing lessons helped both inform and inspire her teaching.
“Soon after my appointment as Head of Music last year, I asked for a new singing teacher to be provided, and almost as an afterthought, mentioned that I had never had any singing lessons myself. My school agreed to pay for four lessons as CPD.
“I was completely unprepared for what happened in those four lessons. Completely amazed at how many things I had been doing (and teaching) wrong in my own singing in the classroom, and at the difference in both the sound and the physical sensation of singing with an improved technique. From what I discovered I was able to do things immediately with my choir that helped improve the sound.
“I was hooked! I’ve had about 20 lessons now and, have auditioned successfully for a local chamber choir. I’m thoroughly enjoying the journey and the learning process.
“I am happier and more relaxed when I’ve been singing and I’ve even been inspired to practise the piano again. I now feel like a musician – and a learning musician – again, instead of an often exhausted mother and teacher with little time, energy or enthusiasm for new ideas.
“Inspired by my first singing lessons, I decided to try and put on a concert – “Everyone Sings” – in the autumn term involving the whole of year 7.. I had read some material on project-based learning and was inspired by the idea of giving pupils a real performance to work towards.
“Year 7 responded positively on the whole, with the inevitable few reluctant participants, but an explanatory letter home signed by myself, the head of year and the headteacher proved helpful in quashing most parental objections. Each class was taught a separate song to perform, which were to be judged as a competition.
“We also had a massed medley of “Swing low, sweet chariot” and Debbie Wiseman’s “No wars will stop us singing”. I taught seven of the ten year 7 classes myself this year; my own singing lessons were continuing roughly once a fortnight, and my teacher was an invaluable help in showing me how not to over-use my voice, and suggesting ways of making particular phrases or parts of the songs easier.
“The Hall was packed at the final event and the sound of 260 pupils singing en masse was an extraordinarily arresting finale. Medals were awarded and pupil reports later written, allowing us a fascinating insight into their perception of the event, and showing how memorable it had been for them.”
If you’d like to contact Liz or discuss a choir tour for your school, please call Senior Account Manager Alahree McDonell on 0208 772 2868. Or click on the links to find out more about our school choir tours and all our school music tour destinations.
Next week: How running a compulsory GCSE choir has had an amazing effect on music-making at Liz’s school.
Destinations
