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. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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.