music

in the Junior School

Junior School girls have been having a great time in Music classes this semester. There is always so much to learn!

Year 1 girls have been honing their singing voices to become wonderful little treble singers… they have also been learning much more than just the basics of beat and pitch. The girls have been learning to read and write melody and rhythm on the stave and have even been using their bodies to show pitch placement on our amazing stave mat in Music. Games, musical challenges, story books, instruments, rhythm cards, dance and song are all just some of the many learning activities we do in Music at this level. Every music lesson is jam packed full of a variety of learning activities. Year 2’s have been having a wonderful time preparing themselves for recorder learning by improving their understanding of right and left hands and by starting to build the finger flexibility and awareness that learning an instrument requires. Meanwhile, Year 3’s and Year 4’s have been busy refining their recorder playing, piano-keyboard skills, choral singing, and have been extending their practical understanding of music to include new musical elements.

Girls in Year 5 and Year 6 have been loving their band instrument classes and have all made excellent gains on their instrument playing this term. In Year 5 and 6 we have girls playing drums, clarinet, saxophone, flute, trumpet and trombone. Girls in the Junior School are wonderfully privileged to each be able to learn one of these instruments as part of classroom Music for two whole years

before they graduate from the Junior School. The girls get a great buzz from the progress they make and also being able to perform their band songs with their class and year groups. We are looking forward to rolling out some performances in Terms 3 and 4! It is also wonderful to see so many Junior School girls involved in the amazing co-curricular Music programme at the College. We have Suzuki instrument groups, Junior Black Watch Orchestra, as well as three amazing choirs in the Junior School: Junior Song Squad, Junior Black Watch Singers and Junior Saints. There is something for everyone and it is great to see so many girls involved this year. — Mr Stewart

Mihi Whakatau

At the start of Term 2 we held a mihi whakatau to welcome our new teachers and students to St Cuthbert’s. This also allowed us to celebrate being back together for a new term of learning adventures. It was a particularly special time as we welcomed in each of the new Year 0 girls who had started in Term 2, along with their parents; a wonderful broadening of our St Cuthbert’s family.

A mihi whakatau is a Māori welcome ceremony which is similar to, but less formal than, a traditional pōwhiri. The two key values that underpin both mihi whakatau and pōwhiri are:

• Manaakitanga – the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others • Whakawhanaungatanga – the process of establishing relationships