Free singing lessons for primary and intermediate ākonga
A new project from the New Zealand Choral Federation and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage aims to get students singing.
Photo by Robert Collins on Unsplash.
With support from the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, the New Zealand Choral Federation is offering free singing lessons for Primary and Intermediate aged students, and PLD for kaiako interested in getting their kids singing.
Singing has been found to boost self-esteem, focus and engagement in students who participate. Participating in the arts has also been found to improve student wellbeing. Additionally, resources developed by the NZCF aim to celebrate the diversity of cultures represented in our tamariki. Singing could be one easy and fun way to integrate tikanga Māori and more reo vocabulary throughout the school day.
As part of the initiative, NZCF are running a number of free upcoming workshops for teachers who’d like to set up a singing group at their kura, even if they aren’t necessarily confident singers themselves. These will happen in June and July. Interested educators can find details here.
There will also be free one-on-one mentoring available for teachers at schools without a music specialist. Mentoring can include a mix of in-person or online coaching, and will be tailored for the needs of your kura.
There are also free resources on the New Zealand Choral Federation (NZCF) website, sorted by year level, to help get your kids singing! Singing can happen in the classroom, at assembly, or with a special singing group. There are also ideas available to create singing routines, use singing to reinforce learning and to simply have fun.
Naomii Seah
Naomii Seah is a writer and journalist from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. She has been covering education in New Zealand since 2022.
