Choir Teacher Evaluation 2014
This contains the summarised evaluations from 73 schools out of 100. Any comments provided by schools are listed by performance night, then by school in alphabetical order. Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
1 The first objective of the Music Festival is to provide “An enjoyable experience of choral music performed at the highest possible standard.”
Please rate the Festival as to its overall enjoyment level and standard for your pupils as a whole.
Enjoyment of Festival Performance
60 50 40 37 30 31 20 10 1 4 0 Low Satisfactory High Very high
Standard of Massed Singing
60 50 40 41 30 20 23 9 10 0 0 Low Satisfactory High Very high
1 Ashburton Borough School [Erin Barclay - Wednesday] Sitting at the edge of the massed choir was difficult but they managed well.
2 Beckenham School [April Chapman - Wednesday] As always the standard of choral singing is very good and well taught to the children.
3 Cotswold School [Alex Thomson - Wednesday] The children were excited to take part in such a big event. It was good to finish at 9:20 this year as some years have been quite late. Also good having 12 songs as some can take a while to learn.
4 Kirkwood Intermediate School [Kathryn Mason - Wednesday] The performance was very much enjoyed by students and parents. Thanks for all of your work to make this happen.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
5 Sockburn School [Gill North - Wednesday] It was hard for us to hear and have a sense of the overall sound that the audience was experiencing from the side where we were. Also it was a bit hard to see the conductor's face and therefore cues. I know that is a challenge with such a wide venue.
6 St Margaret's College [Sarah Hickford - Wednesday] Despite the issues we had with motivation this year (and last year), the girls did enjoy the occasion on the night.
7 St Michael's Church School [Sarah Mahoney - Wednesday] The acoustics make it difficult to hear others around you. You feel like you are singing a solo.
8 Woolston School [Julia Field - Wednesday] I thought the Massed Choirs sounded fantastic!
9 Yaldhurst Model School [Heather Tebbett - Wednesday] When you are sat with the choir you cannot hear what the audience can so you cannot truly appreciate 'how' it sounds so answer based on best fit.
10 Amuri Area School [Adrian Black - Thursday] Great theme and songs. The children enjoyed learning and singing these.
11 Breens Intermediate School [Lou Days - Thursday] The festival itself is well run. Unfortunately the musical material chosen was not engaging for the age group. Quite frankly, they hated it and I struggled to maintain their interest and keep them coming to practices.
12 Broadfield School [Clare Edwards - Thursday] It was obvious from the large screen that too many students didn't know their words.
13 Cheviot Area School [Liz Grigg - Thursday] It is really hard to hear when you are sitting with kids but when I sat downstairs at the rehearsal it was lovely! I think kids feel quite isolated when they are singing so keep reiterating the fact that they are part of a wonderful 'whole'!
One comment – We were on the very edge on the right hand side when looking at the stage with a couple of other small schools. I felt that some conductors (in particular Joshua McGirr, conducted mainly to the Left and Middle – I know this is nit picking but Our kids deserve to feel included and it is harder to hear when their voices are not coming directly to you. Also wonderful camera work on the night but again it was mainly directed to the middle and left – certainly not right around to our very edge and parents love seeing their little darlings!
I don’t want to criticise because I know the selfless commitment you people all make and are very grateful for it! And I certainly couldn’t do it!!
14 Diamond Harbour School [Fiona Rice - Thursday] It is difficult to hear the singing from where we st, at the edge. The comment 'satisfactory' is more for my choir this year!
15 Dunsandel School [Toni Barns - Thursday] I suppose it is hard to gauge the 'power' of the massed choir, I can only assume it sounded good. From where I was sitting in amongst the children it sounded quite good but not really powerful.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
16 Harewood School [Julie Argyle - Thursday] For the number of children involved it sounded amazing.
17 Mairehau School [John Bangma - Thursday] Teachers need to be told they MUST sit with their children - I seemed to end up dealing with children from other schools as their staff seemed oblivious to what was happening.
18 Merrin School [Angelique van der Velden/Lisa Dillon Roberts - Thursday] The songs were very 'rousing' and that motivated students.
19 Oxford Area School [Ros Tavita - Thursday] Sadly the sound system was not up to scratch. Too much echoing and the adult speakers spoke fast- therefore couldn't be heard. Junior special choir couldn't be heard well either.
20 St Albans School [Olivia Falkner - Thursday] I thought the festival this year was much more enjoyable than last year. Well done to the organisers! The only thing I feel is important to note is that many parents commented on the fact that the microphones appeared to have been turned up on the Special Choirs and it was very hard to tell if the massed choirs were singing. i noticed it too.
21 St Paul's School [Melissa Dungey - Thursday] All children involved in the choir thoroughly enjoyed the experience and the standard was fantastic :)
22 Waitākiri School [Dianna Reynolds - Thursday] Our children were very excited to be performing in the Festival at Horncastle Arena.
23 West Melton School [Maree Crosby - Thursday] While I enjoyed the songs, the theme, and the overall experience of the Music Festival, as did the parents who attended, my students did not really enjoy the experience. When asked, they felt that the songs were "okay but way too high". The most familiar songs for my students were probably Imagine & Do You Hear the People Sing, both over 30 years old. One of the songs listed as contemporary is older than the children singing it, and neither are well-known songs.
24 West Spreydon School [Natalie Tasker - Thursday] Lovely night. Not the greatest venue in terms of acoustics but glad everyone could fit!
25 Cashmere Primary School [Annie Rodgers - Friday] As we were seated in the middle of the mass choir, behind the Senior Special Choir, the sound of the mass choir was much stronger ... it made it easier to encourage the choir to sing out loud as they didn't feel quite so "alone".
26 Fendalton Open Air School [Kate Husband - Friday] As the choir teacher I was a bit disappointed that my students hadn't learnt all of their words and we were certainly sitting amongst other schools who hadn't learnt these either. Fortunately there were enough to "carry" the group. As a whole though looking at the big picture the sound was great and the special choirs held it all together.
27 Hanmer Springs School [Sarah Gardiner - Friday] Our small choir enjoyed being in the midst of larger groups and certainly gained in confidence from the experience.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
28 Hillview Christian School [Philippa Becker - Friday] The students seemed to enjoy the whole experience. I thought the standard of massed singing was outstanding.
29 Leeston School [Mary Cameron - Friday] Most of the songs really appealed to the students and I feel that this was reflected in their enthusiasm and attention to their singing
30 Middleton Grange School [Rowana Rutherford - Friday] Some of the songs were very fast-paced and exceptionally wordy, it was obvious that some were struggling with the order of the lyrics
31 Our Lady of Assumption School [Nick Grant - Friday] Please cut back on the thank you bit on the end.
32 St Joseph's School (Papanui) [Angela O'Connell - Friday] Being a Friday and having Athletic Sports mid-week, my children were very tired!
33 Wairakei School [Philippa Brocklehurst - Friday] The chn especially enjoyed Kaiser Bill, In Flanders Fields and Do You Hear the People Sing. I loved watching the energy and passion of our children as they sang Do You Hear the People Sing.
34 Westburn School [Carolyn Pritchard - Friday] Great Festival. The children enjoyed the experience, which had extra variety this year. As someone who sat in the audience, everything came over very well and it was most enjoyable. Announcers were excellent. Well done to the whole team!
2 The second objective of the Music Festival is to provide “Exposure to a wide variety of genre and styles of choral music."
Please evaluate the massed choir songs selected for the 2013 Festival against this objective.
Breadth of genre and style
60
40 43 28 20 2 0
Not achieved Achieved Achieved to a high level
1 Beckenham School [April Chapman - Wednesday] A good range of genres, and the shorter programme was much easier to learn.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
2 Hurunui College [Philip Biddlecombe - Wednesday] Need to be careful of adding too many original compositions.
3 Kirkwood Intermediate School [Kathryn Mason - Wednesday] There was not a wide variety of music for the massed choir - plenty of older songs! Lovely arrangements of some older pop songs though.
4 Ouruhia Model School [Mark Ashmore-Smith - Wednesday] Loved the selection this year
5 Sockburn School [Gill North - Wednesday] We really enjoyed learning almost all of them.
6 St Margaret's College [Sarah Hickford - Wednesday] We have got this wrong. The young people of today are not what they were, and will no longer blindly accept the songs we choose. They are exposed to a huge variety of music on their devices, and we need to HOOK them into the amazing opportunity the Festival gives them by ENGAGING them with the songs they sing. Without at least 1 or 2 songs from the repertoire they know from the radio / itunes etc, they are incredibly hard to motivate. Kids for Kids seems to manage to use modern songs in terms of copyright, so it is obviously possible, Please help us here and take this seriously. We are facing a huge backlash from parents and students about the songs that are selected for the Festival, and parents are already withdrawing their children. If something is not done, I am really afraid that whole schools will pull out of this amazing Festival. Also, as many of the other songs as possible need to be fun and upbeat. Their favourite song this year was "75 years young" because of its fun factor and fast tempo. The number of songs included this year was an improvement.
7 St Michael's Church School [Sarah Mahoney - Wednesday] Great variety of style and pace.
8 Woolston School [Julia Field - Wednesday] A really great repertoire of songs this year. They were not too technically difficult, and the students loved singing them all.
9 Yaldhurst Model School [Heather Tebbett - Wednesday] This years programme was comprehensive and allowed our choirs to enjoy music they may not have otherwise experienced. Great theme guys and done very respectfully :)
10 Broadfield School [Clare Edwards - Thursday] 2014 and still only 1 waiata.
11 Cheviot Area School [Liz Grigg - Thursday] Good songs – if a little on the monocultural side – but probably this was dictated by the theme to a certain extent. I loved the theme.
12 Clearview Primary School [Jenny Schmidli - Thursday] Was sometimes hard to hear the choir over the music that was being played
13 Diamond Harbour School [Fiona Rice - Thursday] A good selection of songs.
14 Harewood School [Julie Argyle - Thursday] We loved the choice of music and the theme. It was very rewarding to be able to expose children to such a variety of music.
15 Hornby High School [S. Richardson - Thursday] Was a good selection of genres, though many students in particular boys, struggled with the pitchs selected.
16 Ilam School [Erica Robson - Thursday] Fantastic choice of material. 6
Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
My only comment is that the programme is very lengthy. Would it be possible to shorten it a little by losing at least a couple of songs? Also, getting the choir to learn the material in the time available (after the Northwest Festival) was a bit of a stretch and this would help with that as well.
Is it possible to consider a quick snack/drinks/toilet break for students at rehearsals? Again, it is a long time for them to work without a break. Thanks :)
17 Merrin School [Angelique van der Velden/Lisa Dillon Roberts - Thursday] Great selection of songs this year. One of the best I'd say. Wide variety and very appealing to the students and also the audience.
18 Queenspark School [Jackie Stafford - Thursday] Great selection of songs suitable to the age of the children.
19 Spreydon School [Annie Blaikie - Thursday] Excellent song choices!
20 Sumner School [Robyn Lean - Thursday] It was difficult to connect with some of the songs at first due to their dated-ness, however they grew on us as we rehearsed and the variety of wartime music and war and peace related songs is such that the children could find something they enjoyed within the programme. So it was a good selection in the end, but a bit difficult to really connect with at first. I wondered if there were any wartime songs or peace related music from other parts of the world we could have selected to make it a more culturally diverse mix. Given the parts of the world which are war-torn at present it would have been good to have included an African/Middle Eastern/Eastern European song rather than all-British with a smattering of Maori. Next year with the theme, could you put it out there to us, and ask for any requests under that particular theme? I did however think the design of the programme and the culmination of the last 2 songs was brilliant!
21 Waitākiri School [Dianna Reynolds - Thursday] I thought that the repertoire this year was challenging (in a good way), interesting to sing and there was something for everyone.
22 Cashmere Primary School [Annie Rodgers - Friday] A great range of genre used ... everyone in the choir had a favourite, and there wasn't one that was the most popular
23 Fendalton Open Air School [Kate Husband - Friday] My choir had a lot of boys this year and they just loved singing all of the songs - they loved the actions to some and the steady strong beat. The girls also loved this aspect and all of my choir chose to be in this festival this year without any coercing!
24 Hillview Christian School [Philippa Becker - Friday] It was a very interesting, singable, and exciting selection of songs. I found that the number of songs was just right. It was great having some songs familiar to the children and some that were new. I loved having a strong theme. It enabled the children to learn about a time in history from the context of music. I felt that there was enough musical challenge within many of the songs to provide interest without being overwhelming. There was a good variety of genres. I know a lot of time goes into song selection and I think the festival team did an outstanding job. Thank you so much
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
25 Our Lady of Assumption School [Nick Grant - Friday] More contemporary stuff?
26 St Joseph's School (Papanui) [Angela O'Connell - Friday] Within the Theme of War & Peace I felt the songs chosen were excellent. I did NOT agree that they glorified war.
I thought Patrick Shepherd's 75 Years Young was brilliant!
27 St Teresa's School [Pip Overton - Friday] I felt the song choice this year was fantastic. The level of sophistication was high enough to extend the Mass choirs but not to high as to be out of their reach.
28 Westburn School [Carolyn Pritchard - Friday] I thought that the songs were well chosen. At first, some of them seemed really high and we wondered if they would sound strained on those top notes, but they didn't. It sounded strong and true - a good learning step for some.
Overall, the children enjoyed them better than other years.
3 The third objective of the Music Festival is to provide "Choral training based on the development of well-produced head tone and other important vocal techniques."
Please evaluate the Festival on this criteria based on your Teacher Demonstration Meeting, Area Rehearsal and Final Rehearsal experiences.
Choral training
60 50 40 41 30 20 27 10 0 5 0 No training Minimal level received Useful level Very useful level
1 Ouruhia Model School [Mark Ashmore-Smith - Wednesday] I still get confused about head tones, and how to get children to get there, especially when they complain about the songs being too high.
2 Sockburn School [Gill North - Wednesday] Just using the CD over and over and over worked well for us.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
3 St Margaret's College [Sarah Hickford - Wednesday] The Demo Meeting was great. A "well- produced head tone", however, starts from A above middle C, and does NOT need to lie predominantly as high as the songs chosen this year did. This is a HUGE turn-off for students, and is NOT "good for them". Please don't underestimate the significance of this. Choose songs with narrower ranges that don't need to go to high G. Judy Garland and John Lennon never sang their songs as high as we were expecting our students to sing them, a fact that was painfully obvious to everyone when I played the originals in class.
4 St Martins School [Amy Kenel - Wednesday] I did not attend the Demonstration meeting as I was not taking the choir at this stage.
The area rehearsal was fabulous and it was really motivating for the children.
5 St Michael's Church School [Sarah Mahoney - Wednesday] Teacher workshop was helpful.
6 Yaldhurst Model School [Heather Tebbett - Wednesday] Helped immensely - thank you. Not all Choir leaders are music teachers or trained in any choral sense, so it is vital that this support is offered so we 'are singing from the same hymn sheet' so to say!
7 Broomfield School [Kay WIeck - Thursday] I attended the initial teacher demonstration and the follow up for those teachers who needed more PD. I found both extremely useful in the way they prepared me, and therefore, my choir for the learning ahead. Thanks to the team for their superb ideas and help.
8 Diamond Harbour School [Fiona Rice - Thursday] Thank you for providing extra workshops this year.
9 Greymouth Combined [Kim Hines - Thursday] Being from Greymouth, it is really hard to get the school's together for a practice. It would be really beneficial to both the teachers and the students if it was possible if one of the conductors could make the journey over to take a practice with the choir.
10 Harewood School [Julie Argyle - Thursday] I also went to the additional training which I found useful.
11 Merrin School [Angelique van der Velden/Lisa Dillon Roberts - Thursday] The conductors 'wowed' me this year. I could see our students being inspired.
12 Waitākiri School [Dianna Reynolds - Thursday] I particularly like getting tips for bringing out the best in children's voices and ideas for warmups.
13 Fendalton Open Air School [Kate Husband - Friday] It is always wonderful to be amongst a group of like minded people and all of the sessions were very valuable. We are so very fortunate to have such a strong group of leaders in music in Christchurch and I am very grateful to all that is done to ensure a polished performance at an exceptionally high level.
14 Hillview Christian School [Philippa Becker - Friday] The festival provides excellent resourcing. Thank you
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
15 St Teresa's School [Pip Overton - Friday] I pass on everything I learn to the children and the change to their sound is noticed by many.
16 Westburn School [Carolyn Pritchard - Friday] Good demonstration session. Always write things on my copy to subsequently remember when teaching it.
4 The fourth objective of the Music Festival is to provide “Development of the personal responsibility and self-discipline required for music performance."
Please evaluate your choir's OVERALL achievement of this objective.
Personal responsibility and self-discipline
60 40 40 32 20 1 0
Not achieved Achieved Achieved to high level
1 Beckenham School [April Chapman - Wednesday] We always have a number of children that drop out of the choir during the Music Festival as they do not enjoy the song choice. However the children that stay in have a great experience and learn many important skills.
2 Catholic Cathedral College [Lillian Maguire - Wednesday] Students at our school put their names forward to be a part of the Choir, we did not hold auditions or make it compulsory. This meant that the kids who really wanted to be a part of it were able to be involved.
As a teacher I had to deal with a lot of commitment issues during our rehearsal time and a lot of my students decided they didn't want to be a part of it about half way through.
The culture of the Music Festival is not yet strong within our community and I am working hard to develop this over the years. Hopefully I will have more students that will commit and more parent support in the future.
3 Cotswold School [Alex Thomson - Wednesday] Some more so than others but that comes down to their attitude not the organisers.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
4 Ouruhia Model School [Mark Ashmore-Smith - Wednesday] I feel it is important for chn to experience the Festival and that in some settings they have to moderate their behaviour and improve their focus and self-discipline.
5 St Margaret's College [Sarah Hickford - Wednesday] Engaged students singing songs they enjoy in ranges they can manage would achieve this much more readily. I have heard this from multiple schools, so if they are not saying it in the feedback they are not telling it the way it is. By all means prepare students for future involvement in Big Sing competitions through the Special Choirs, but engage and enthuse the 3000 (?) other children in the massed choirs with an amazing Festival experience so they are not looking back and groaning about the songs they were made to sing in the Festival...or even worse don't ever get the Festival experience we have all had at their ages. I really feel that this is a crisis situation for the Festival. I am in absolute awe of the amazing amount of work you all do for this wonderful Festival, but let’s fix it so we don't lose it!
6 St Michael's Church School [Sarah Mahoney - Wednesday] I was worried that they weren't looking at the conductor enough but they in fact rose to the occasion on the night.
7 Woolston School [Julia Field - Wednesday] I would have marked this as ""Achieved to a high level"" except that the organisation on the night meant it was virtually impossible to manage the children as larger choirs set a tone of silliness and lack of self-control at interval.
Students coming and going for drinks, toilet breaks and the like were also very disruptive.
8 Yaldhurst Model School [Heather Tebbett - Wednesday] Always room for improvement when supporting our developing youth!
9 Broadfield School [Clare Edwards - Thursday] Again, the big screen showed all too clearly how many students were unable to maintain their self-discipline for aextended periods of time.
10 Broomfield School [Kay WIeck - Thursday] Every child enjoyed the experience and understood the need for respect and self discipline for this type of performance. They were under some pressure from the school who misbehaved behind them (will not mention names at this point) and had to put up with noise, pulling/pushing of seats and general disruption. It took quite an effort for the Broomfield children to ignore this and hard work on behalf of my adult helper on the evening of the performance. I am so proud of the self- managing skills of my choir.
11 Cheviot Area School [Liz Grigg - Thursday] One more comment from a parent was that on the photos of the 4year students if they are from an intermediate it would be great to have their primary schools acknowledged as well!
12 Diamond Harbour School [Fiona Rice - Thursday] Many of my choir achieved this; however, some did not. We have the annual debate about whether we reduce numbers in our choir and focus on singing, or whether we see the festival as a valuable opportunity to participate in a musical event which will then inspire students to continue some form of 11
Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
musical education. The focus then becomes 'giving it a go' and 'being a performer' and 'being an audience' . We think that what they learn from participating goes far beyond singing, and so I will continue to encourage all students who wish to participate to do so. Thank you for giving our students this opportunity.
13 Emmanuel Christian School [Patsy Hawke - Thursday] There seemed to be many more children than in previous years leaving during items to go to the toilet etc.
It is difficult in the arena to get a sense of place, but maybe we need to stress more to the children that leaving during items is not an option.
14 Hornby High School [S. Richardson - Thursday] This was our first year participating in the festival and was an excellent way for our students to demonstrate their school values. They learned to practice and learn the music and words independently as well as in school practices, to work as part of a team and on the night demonstrated excellent self-restraint and respect.
15 Mairehau School [John Bangma - Thursday] This year's choir was the BEST I have ever led. Pleasure to lead.
16 Merrin School [Angelique van der Velden/Lisa Dillon Roberts - Thursday] Almost a full attendance on the night by Merrin students. They looked good, behaved well and sung beautifully. Thanks for setting such a high standard.
17 St Albans School [Olivia Falkner - Thursday] I felt that my choir behaved and performed extremely well. However some of the behaviour of other school choirs was terrible. I had to speak to members of one choir who giggled, pushed and talked through the whole of the last post. There were also 2 supervisors sitting in front of me who talked the whole way through the evening performance. I think more of an emphasis needs to be put on the role of the supervisors.
18 Avonhead School [Anna Trinder - Friday] I was personally really impressed with the way Avonhead Students performed and behaved at all mass rehearsals and on the night. They took their job very seriously and we were all hugely proud of them.
19 Cobham Intermediate School [Philippa Chilvers - Friday] I would like to thank the team for the improved rehearsal experience due to more realistic expectations of the children - particularly in terms of how long they were required to remain standing during the rehearsal of the songs. Well done! This was a much more positive experience for the students compared to last year.
20 Fendalton Open Air School [Kate Husband - Friday] I would have to say that I was disappointment that there was not more decorum with the students as they moved into place for each segment of singing. I was unable to be at the rehearsal in the morning with them due to the nature of my part time position at school and I am working in another area of the school on Fridays. I would have spent more time discussing the importance of their respect at this moving time and at other times - especially coping with the screen shots. I had thought this would have been dealt with at the rehearsal with those I left with 12
Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
the group and maybe it was - but I was not all together happy with some of my group and how they contained (or didn't) themselves on the night.
21 Hillview Christian School [Philippa Becker - Friday] I agree that this happened with the students who were in the special groups for our school. But as for our choir I was disappointed that some students dropped out. We are looking at this closely. Choir goes from 8:00-8:45am on Wednesdays and I have had feedback that some parents are finding it difficult to get their children there on time. Some have a way to travel and there are other factors as well. We are thrilled with those who committed themselves through the whole process. This is a problem our end, nothing to do with the festival organisation or song selection.
22 Middleton Grange School [Rowana Rutherford - Friday] Children were enthusiastic and committed to learning and performing
23 St Teresa's School [Pip Overton - Friday] I would like to say that my guys achieved to a high level but unfortunately not all of them were word perfect, although many were.
24 Westburn School [Carolyn Pritchard - Friday] It's always good training when children have to perform in a big group and have to remember 'performance etiquette' - something that is not taught in many, if any, other situations. It's a valuable life lesson - the good of the group rather than the individual.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
5 Please rate the organisation of the Festival as you experienced it.
Organisation of the Festival
60
50
40
30 Did not apply to us
20 Weak Acceptable 10 Beneficial 0 Outstanding
Starting time
80 60 Too early 40 Just about right 20 0 Starting time
Online Resources
25 Weak 20 Acceptable 15 Beneficial 10 Outstanding 5 Did not use them 0 Online Resources
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
1 Ashburton Borough School [Erin Barclay - Wednesday] We didn't seem to receive ticket information with much time to sell them again. I am unsure why this happened
2 Catholic Cathedral College [Lillian Maguire - Wednesday] Having the songs available online was fantastic for the students, especially over the school holidays so they could practice at home with their families
3 "Kirkwood Intermediate School [Kathryn Mason - Wednesday] I have been approached by 5 individual students who said they did not appreciate the way that they were spoken to at the rehearsals. They all referred to multiple conductors mocking their singing eg. ""you guys were sing like this..."" The conductor then sang in a terrible whining voice that didn't even slightly represent the way the kids sounded and started snoring.
Problems with this are:
1. Students felt putdown - the joke was at their expense.
2. Most students didn't find the joke funny the first time, let alone the 8th or 9th.
3. Telling people what not to do, especially in such a bizarre way that does not at all represent what the students would even consider doing, is not effective teaching practice. Conductor Kate Hayes even said: ""I'm not going to tell you what to do but here is what not to do. A comparison would be teaching someone to drive by crashing the car.
4. This is an easy out for people who don't know how to explain exactly what the students need to do.
Are we really going to teach our 8-13 year olds by putting them down?
Lastly can I please complement those conductors that did explain very clearly that what the students needed to do and how to do it. Susan Frost was outstanding in her teaching of the song Imagine a World. I learned so much from her and others' examples.
4 Linwood North School [Mikyla Marshall - Wednesday] Sorry did not use them, only have a limited time to get through songs in choir so needed to focus on the songs
5 Sockburn School [Gill North - Wednesday] All great apart from the fact that it was a little hard for us to hear the conductor or see their face at the morning rehearsal.
6 St Martins School [Amy Kenel - Wednesday] Communication was excellent once my email address was corrected.
7 St Michael's Church School [Sarah Mahoney - Wednesday] Re: Audition letter: I was very impressed with the letter that came to one of our students who was unsuccessful in the audition. It was sensitively written and encouraging. Well done.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
Re: Overall experience: This was the first time I have been involved as a teacher and we made it compulsory for all our Year 5-8 pupils to be part of it. They gained a huge amount over the months of learning the songs and their attitude and ability to sing improved noticeably. A great experience for us all. Thank you.
8 Woolston School [Julia Field - Wednesday] Yes they were useful.
I was a bit sad that the children didn't sing to a full house. I wondered if ticket price was a factor for some lower income families. Thank you to the conductors who led the Massed Choirs, they were great to learn from and brought energy, warmth, passion and dynamism to their roles. Our children at Woolston loved taking part and it was a joy to be involved. Looking forward to 2015!
9 Yaldhurst Model School [Heather Tebbett - Wednesday] The resource links were a great idea to provide stimuli for their choir and the wider school community - to raise awareness of festival aims. Video showing salute was great and I wish I'd have asked for the movements to the other songs to be done too as I would have found those very useful too.
My choir became very thirsty during the rehearsal, as difficult as it is, is there a way that we could build in a scheduled 'drink-stop' at all? Maybe 'bring a water bottle which you can access at 10.15'...?
Thanks for a great experience and pass on Yaldhurst Model School’s appreciation to everyone involved please.
10 Breens Intermediate School [Lou Days - Thursday] I think that the overall structure of the performance evening could flow a lot better. And most importantly pick material that is engaging and fun for young people to sing. We started with a choir of 50 and by the end we were struggling to keep the 30 that performed on the night coming along. It really is the material chosen as now that we are back into practices for our schools music evening the numbers are up again.
11 Broadfield School [Clare Edwards - Thursday] We didn't use them, but that is not to say we wouldn't use them in future years.
12 Broomfield School [Kay WIeck - Thursday] It is always good to have these to refer to and I thought it was a great idea.
13 Cheviot Area School [Liz Grigg - Thursday] I didn't really use them sorry – but the notes for putting songs in context were useful.
14 Harewood School [Julie Argyle - Thursday] Well done! It was a very polished, smooth operation. The quality, professionalism and expertise were outstanding.
15 Hornby High School [S. Richardson - Thursday] We encountered a number of issues with communications this year (not surprising as this was our first year) Some festival emails were automatically filtered by the server to the junkmail folder without staff knowledge, along with follow up prompts.
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
Ticketing was an issue for us this year. We did not receive the posters and ticketing information (we have searched the school) and were only made aware that we had missed the ticket cut off date when I sent a concerned email. I would however like to thank the festival for going above and beyond by making allowances and extra efforts so that we were able to secure tickets at the school rate. This was greatly appreciated by our parents.
16 Mairehau School [John Bangma - Thursday] Whoever had the idea of putting the music online should be congratulated - such a brilliant idea and one used by many of my kids.
Really appreciated Patrick's leadership and willingness to support us when I had more singers than first thought.
Thanks for all the efforts. Not every song is going to please everyone but there was a good range with a mix of old and newer. As always I love the addition of the song in Te Reo. The theme was appropriate despite the complaints from that one woman!!!! See you in 2015.
17 Merrin School [Angelique van der Velden/Lisa Dillon Roberts - Thursday] A great Music Festival. Thanks from Merrin School.
18 Oxford Area School [Ros Tavita - Thursday] A comment regarding the overall song selection... Although the songs were on an appropriate theme, they did not really 'grab' the children this year. Of course they enjoyed 'Do you Hear the people Sing' however the rest were a bit lack lustre. This comment came through from the parents/teachers too.
19 Spreydon School [Annie Blaikie - Thursday] Excellent idea to have songs available on the website for teachers to use and students to practise at home.
The Music Festival was a wonderful experience for the children to be involved in. Thank you.
20 St Albans School [Olivia Falkner - Thursday] I felt that our Area rehearsal was the best one I've ever attended. Absolutely fantastic.
21 St Paul's School [Melissa Dungey - Thursday] The festival seems to run like clockwork every year and that would be due to a great deal of hard work so thank you to everyone for this tremendous effort :)
22 Waitākiri School [Dianna Reynolds - Thursday] Tickets: as usual this went well. Possible suggestion from our office staff- to have ticket sales online as a spreadsheet- the Cultural Festival now does this and it works very well.
23 West Melton School [Maree Crosby - Thursday] Although I really enjoyed being part of the Music Festival this year, I am not sure that my students would recommend joining the choir to others in our school. For me, that means that despite the huge progress the students made, participating in the festival was not a huge success for us this year. I appreciate that I'm not an experienced choir teacher, nor am I music expert in any way, so feel free to ignore my comments :) It may be worth noting that in speaking with other (relieving) teachers who were more familiar with teaching music and singing, they also felt that having a soprano sing the songs on the CD for the kids was not so helpful. 17
Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
24 West Spreydon School [Natalie Tasker - Thursday] The one thing I could think of was information that is put online. The morning rehearsal, at the arena, people weren't sure where to go. It was written online but I know there were many that didn't read this- (not your fault). Something for future years.. there could be just one person at the front entrance directing the traffic. Also, I don't know if there is any way around this... 2 hours of singing with no breaks for morning tea?? Thanks for all the hard work put into this lovely evening
25 Cashmere Primary School [Annie Rodgers - Friday] Ticket sales are very early ... especially if you have a full timetable and only start the choir beginning of Term 3. We don't have a lot of sales generated.
Seating ... we gift our sales tickets to our principal and staff, over the last couple of years they have had seats that haven't enabled the to see our school. Is it possible to seat these so that they can see the choir, and that the choir can spot them! I understand that this is difficult, but it is just a thought.
26 Fendalton Open Air School [Kate Husband - Friday] I have a comment to make about the special choir auditions. One of my choristers got in two years in a row. In choir her voice is very weak and when I gave her the microphone she was barely audible. She would not sing her part with me when we had practises. Her parents pushed for the information to submit her application into the special choir and I was told that her grandmother is on the choosing board. When having a conversation with her about how wonderful it is to be in the group she said that she ""had to be in the special choir"". I have some grave concerns about the selection committee being compromised.
I have many able singers and was surprised that she was chosen over others I had allowed to register.
27 Hanmer Springs School [Sarah Gardiner - Friday] I didn't realise they were there - only used the website to remind me where I was going and when - sorry.
28 Middleton Grange School [Rowana Rutherford - Friday] I direct the junior choir at our school, I need communications to come directly to me as well as the director of the senoir choir. I missed applications for tickets and the photograph opportunity. I know the communication should have come through internally but I would appreciate first-hand upates and notifications.
29 Selwyn House School [Emma Harwood-Matthews - Friday] I think the concerts should be Tuesday Wednesday Thursday. Selwyn House has been on the Friday night for the past 3 years and we really do not want to be on Friday night next year. (We had to put it as 2nd choice as our sports day was going to be the Thursday).
I thought too much was made of the two co-leaders...Yes, of course they should be congratulated as is protocol, but not quite that much....too bad if you were the leader (or not) of your section on another instrument. I stand to be corrected if the co-leaders took sectional rehearsals, liaised with the string players and put in all the bowings...I know this
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Christchurch Schools’ Music Festival 2014 Evaluation
sounds like sour grapes, and I didn't have a child in another section causing me to mention it, it just struck as a bit over the top me as an observer...
Congratulations on a wonderful production. I thought the conductors were great...It's hard to engage with that many students and they did a brilliant job. I thought the choice of songs was great - I especially enjoyed the Anthony Richie one. I thought the stage management was superb.
30 Wairakei School [Philippa Brocklehurst - Friday] As the accompanist, I didn't make use of some of these opportunities, but our Conductor, Susan Frost did.
31 Westburn School [Carolyn Pritchard - Friday] Sorry - I tend to just go for it and if I have a problem, then look for help. It's good to know that there is information there if needed.
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