Cathedral Schools Reach Out

The Choir Schools Assocation starts a new training scheme

Thirty-six teams, including some of the finest singing leaders in the country, are heading to 500 primary schools over the next few months.

The Chorister Outreach Programme (COP) - an exciting partnership between Cathedral foundations, Music Services and Sing Up - will be targeting more than 2,000 teachers in a bid to get them singing. There will be workshops, twilight sessions and teachers' choirs available across England.

TEACHER TRAINING

Here are a few examples of some of the varied projects that are taking place across the country as part of the COP:

In Cambridge, teachers from the 16 schools working with King's College are being invited to two twilight training sessions each term. In York, teachers will be able to get involved during the in-school sessions as well as observing the Junior Choir rehearsals. They will also be signposted to training opportunities available through York's Vocal Force team. A new teachers' choir is being set up in Durham as part of the Cathedral and Chorister School's programme, which extends to Sunderland and South Tyneside.

Julie Hawksbury, who is managing the Durham project said: "The Teachers' Choir will not only give teachers an opportunity to sing for pleasure but will also help train them to lead singing in their schools. The programme commits at least two teachers from every school involved with the Outreach Programme to come along to choir practice once a fortnight. We are also working with Sing Up and Music Services to identify any others who want to join in and looking forward to hearing them raise the roof at our first Teachers' Concert in December!"

UNIQUE PROJECTS

As part of their programme, The London Oratory School has set up a teachers' choir to help teachers with basic vocal technique and teach them the repertoire being used by their pupils. they will also be running four twilight sessions per term at each of the six schools they are working with this year. Each project is completely unique and the COP has masses to offer its singing-shy teachers, not least access to some of the most inspiring choir trainers of their generation.

Take Note:

Email info@choirschools.org.uk for further information on COP and your local Cathedral School. There are COP projects taking place in:

• Blackburn
• Bradford
• Bristol
• Bury St Edmunds
• Cambridge
• Carlisle
• Chlemsford
• Durham
• Ely
• Exeter
• Gloucester
• Guildford
• Hereford
• Leeds
• Leicester
• Lichfield
• Lincoln
• London
• Manchester
• Newcastle
• Norwich
• Oxford
• Portsmouth
• St Albans
• Salisbury
• Sheffield
• Southwell
• Tewsesbury
• Truro
• Wakefield
• Warwick
• Wells
• Wolverhampton
• Worcester
• York

Words: Jane Capon, Choir Schools Association