Series: 10 Minute CPD

Building your Calendar is an essential job ahead of September. Every year in June & July I start to think about what is going to happen next year. I hope that this 10 Minute CPD blog will get you thinking bout building your calendar. What to include? Start with everything you know you do every […]

In this 10 Minute CPD Blog I want to encourage you to Do Online CPD. I am sure by now you have attended a webinar of some sort, but if not, what are you waiting for. There is so much out there for us teachers and I want to share a few ideas that might […]

I am back to my 10 Minute CPD Series and this short blog is all about preparing students for performance. Whatever level your students are at, it will come down to you to help prepare them for performance. Some students will require more help than others, but all will need some level of guidance. Setting […]

Partnering with local schools is something that I believe we should all be doing. Whilst out situations are all different, partnerships are always a good thing. In this 10 Minute CPD blog I consider the Why & How behind local partnerships. Why? Partnerships are important and they need to be formed in as many ways […]

Working with Senior Leadership is an important part of life in any school. As a music teacher, our relationship with Senior Leadership may well be a little different. It is important that we know what working with senior leadership should look like. In this 10 Minute CPD blog I will look at why this is […]

Think about September now, not plan it, just think about it. That is the message behind this 10 Minute CPD blog. We have so much going on, but we can start to think, plot and imagine. Why? I like to think about September now so that I can start to imagine the kind of year […]

Filming performances has become a part of our lives in these Covid-19 days. It is something we have had to quickly learn and embrace but something that might be here to stay. Filming performances can be tricky and in this 10 Minute CPD I am going to share a few quick tips. Why? Why is […]

Teaching can become fairly monotonous, and we can easily get stuck in our ways. Sometimes the thing we need to do is Try Something New. As Music Teachers we can get used to the yearly calendar of events and the same weekly timetable of rehearsals. Lessons can often become repetitive if we don’t innovate and […]

Keeping Rehearsals Enjoyable is something I have also strived for. Students are often giving up their time and putting in extra hours. We are offering them a chance to do something extra, but we do want them to enjoy it. The Covid-19 Pandemic has made rehearsals almost impossible, but we are starting to move towards […]

Listening is the best way to teach music, or at the very least it is very effective. We can often forget that playing students lots of music can really help them with their understanding. In this 10 Minute CPD blog I consider both the power and process of listening to music in lessons. Why? So […]

I love to Reading & Research and I see it is vital for my own CPD. But where do you start and what can you read? In this 10 Minute CPD blog I want to share some of the things I have been reading recently to help me. Whilst reading & research will take longer […]

Lessons, topics, schemes and events all matter a great deal within a music department. But Community Matters and we should strive to build up a solid music department community. This last year has shown that when we don’t have concerts to prepare for, students still want to meet to make music. Community Matters is a […]

We all need quick ideas that we can think about an implement. This new 10 minute CPD series is designed to give you something to think about every day. These are the things that I have encountered in my journey of running a music department. I will be covering curriculum, community, concerts, rehearsals, ensembles and […]