The French Revolution.....

Not long after Wicked finished, I decided to be a crazy person and audition for the second show of the Showbiz season Les Miserables. After what felt like weeks, I had the call to say that I had made the ensamble! Yay!
Being vocal backing for Wicked was Epic but now being on stage was going to be next level.
Being back in the performance realm for me is amazing BUT this is also invaluable PD. I know that everything I have learnt so far I have fed back directly into my teaching practice! The next couple of months are going to be exhausting but will be worth it!

Defying gravity...............

It seems crazy that it was 7 months ago that I auditioned for the Showbiz production of Wicked. The time flew by and before I knew it it was opening night!! This has by far been the best professional experience I have ever had!
I love being a teacher and I have spent the last 15 years focusing all of my time on mastering my profession to the best I could. Getting to teach music every day is literally the best job in the world. I had forgotten though how amazing it was to be a performer myself. I have always been a singer since grabbing a plastic mic around age 2. Musical theatre was a massive part of my life before teaching and although I don't intend to quit my job and take up performing full time it is amazing to now be doing both. My only concern about getting back into performing was whether I had the energy to teach and perform. Since the start of the year I have been eating healthier and exercising more. I knew I needed to be fitter if I wanted this to work. Once we went into tech week I knew this would be the most challenging time. I was honestly shattered being at the theatre until 11pm and then getting up to teach, but, I just loved it and so it was worth being a little tired!!
As a musician this experience has been challenging and massively rewarding. It has also given me valuable PD as a teacher also. Working with renowned musical director Richard Marrett was a dream. He is an amazing director and seeing him in action was fantastic. I have taken many things from him that I can use in my own teaching. I have made some excellent contacts in the industry and also made some wonderful friends.
Wicked really has been a life changer for me. Being able to work as a singer professionally again is a dream come true. I know this will also only have a positive effect on my teaching also.

Showbiz bio

Musical Theatre mayhem!!!

It's been a manic term........ In year 8 and 9 we have focused on Musical Theatre as a genre for Term 1. This was a collaborative project between myself, Joanne (HOD Drama) and our two part time PA teachers Luke and Sarah. We all had one goal and that was to get all of our juniors on the stage performing. Cue dramatic sound........
We spent a lot of time initially researching musical theatre and putting this new genre into context. Many students had no idea what musical theatre was, some only thought of good old High school musical and some students already had a vast knowledge and were already fans of Hamilton and Mean Girls. We had ALOT of differentiation..... Some students were so keen to perform and as soon as we headed into the practical element were on their way. Others had a passion for sets and props and began designing. Some students were a little reluctant and preferred to research the genre further and produce detailed slide shows. We had a vast array of work happening and even those students that still were not sold on performing on stage they understood the genre and could explain features and give examples. FANTASTIC. In our final showcase each class presented their work, this was a class performance from each ( and yes everyone in the class stood on stage and did something!!! Even the nervous kids stood at the back and sang or danced their heart out) RESULT!! we had some fantastic solo and small ensamble performances, some fab research and some gorgeous set pieces.
There are many things we will take from this project and change and tweak. There were certainly things that didn't work. But, most importantly there were lots of things that did work! Everyone enjoyed themselves and in the end every student involved stood on a stage and performed and left the term with new knowledge on the wonderful genre of Musical Theatre.

Music mentor!!

This year we were lucky to gain another music mentor from the NZ music commission. This is a wonderful initiative by the commission which is completely free of charge. A mentor is assigned to your school and they run workshops based on what you want for your students. This year we were super lucky to get the amazing Lavina Williams! Lavina was such a perfect fit for Hornby and we fell in love with her immediately. Lavina is an amazingly talented performer from Auckland, she is part Samoan part Fijian. She is a singer/songwriter but also an accomplished musical theatre performer. She is the only polynesian woman to have ever been cast in the role of Rafiki in The Lion King. Wow!!!!! Lavina talked us through her amazing career as a singer. Our students were captivated! One of the biggest hurdles for our kids is for them to believe that they can follow their passions in performing arts and that they can travel the world and be a musician. It is possible!!! Lavina really encouraged this and focused on believing in themselves. We had two wonderful days working on stage presence, stage craft and songwriting. Our students soaked up the time and I was really proud of them for putting themselves out there and really giving everything!! I also gained so much from Lavina. It was really interesting to see her giving feedback and having fresh eyes looking at our performances was so rewarding. This was such a perfect way to end the term, I know all my senior musicians benefitted hugely! What an amazing thing for New Zealand to have this commission so that our tamariki can experience working with mentors that we would never usually have the opportunity to access.

Blogging for my students!

This year I want to try really hard to keep my class blog up to date!

Class blog

This is where I put our revised lessons for each class each week. This is a good link for my students to access their learning after class has finished. It also gives me the opportunity to offer words of encouragement and give general feed back. I am enjoying writing this and have set aside time each week to make sure I am keeping it up to date. I will also use this as a tool for my form class too!

Hit the term running....... no, sprinting!!!!

To say we have started school with a bang is an understatement! Its only week 4 and we have had pd days, staff meetings, student meetings, international students, timetable changes, crazy weather and lots of new faces. 2018 was always set to be a big year at Hornby High School but i think i may have underestimated this!
We started our year with our Uru Manuka cluster meeting. This was a day for all of the schools in the cluster to meet together and to discuss our progress with Learn, Create, Share. I did take some valuable things from the day. Listening to Pat Sneddon is always inspiring, hear his encouraging words and the the difference we are making to our children was definitely a great way to start the year. It was interesting though to hear the differences in opinions from our colleagues from other schools........
I always love the start of a school year. I had really missed the kids and it was great catching up with the staff and meeting the 12 newbies! Week 4 in and it already feels like its half way through the term lol! Being over code this term is hard work but I am enjoying all of my classes. Really noticing the difference with smaller junior classes. Going from around 35 to 19 in an average junior music class is already reaping the benefits!
We have set the tone for a great year but it's going to be a hard one too!!

The Wizard and I...

So after many years of wanting to get back into performing, I finally bit the bullet last year and auditioned for Wicked by Showbiz. I have always loved this show and as soon as I saw the press release I knew it was my time! I am constantly inspired by my own students and I am always telling them to go for things and do what they love. So, I finally took my own advice! The audition process was extremely nerve wracking. I was number 72 of 160....... i  had to do a vocal and dance audition. I was really pleased with my vocal audition but bombed the dance ha ha! I clearly have work to do on my stage dancing and fitness. After a painful three week wait I finally got the wonderful letter offering me a part in the company as a backing vocalist. To say I was ecstatic is an understatement!
We had a few rehearsals before 2017 closed and I did really love them but I also felt really overwhelmed and quite nervous! It was so wonderful though to be working with a professional company, the sound from the music rehearsals was glorious! This year the rehearsal schedule is really amping up. I know I am going to find it hard at times working full time and performing but I know I am going to love it!

A Lion, three teachers and some awesomeness!!!

The festival of the arts 2017 began with 8 remaining weeks of the school year. Usually we would be winding down but we certainly were not this time! Our wonderful year 7 and 8 students end their year celebrating the Arts. Each student chooses a project based on their interests. This year we offered, photography, mosaic, guitars, sculpture, carving, weaving, movie making and musical theatre. Groups are usually around 10-15 students.Surprisingly we had over 40 students sign up for our musical project! Because of the numbers, we had three teachers to take the three disciplines, acting, singing and dancing. This was the first time we had attempted to do a "mini" musical and having three teachers and a lot of eager kids we knew it was going to be a good time!
We began with voice and dance warm-ups, drama games and generally getting everyone amped up! We settled on doing a shortened version of The lion King as we only had a maximum of 30 minutes performance time.
The students were so enthusiastic we had a fantastic selection of leads to cast and we also cast understudies ( We actually had to use our Pumba understudy 10 minutes before our show started).
Some of our students had never performed before and so were both excited but extremely nervous! Students helped design set, costumes and makeup. During this process students blogged their adventures and did homework on the characteristics of their characters. I was so impressed with the work the students did outside of rehearsal time, they were so onto it and you could read their enthusiasm! After weeks of prep we did our dress rehearsal to our primary school next door. They loved it and wished we had done the full show! :) Our final show was to a full auditorium, you could feel the nerves but equally the excitement too! We were so proud of their final performances, you would never have guessed we had some first time performers! Hopefully they stay enthused and carry on with the Performing Arts! It certainly was a huge learning curve, self esteem builder and an amazing experience for all of them!

2017......... What a year!!

So, I didn't make a single blog post in 2017!! That's not to say that I spent the year with nothing to write. It is in fact the exact opposite! The last school year I can only describe as a whirlwind!! It had many, many highs and also some really challenging times! During the summer break of 2016/17 the music department had a huge overhaul. This included huge renovations but also we became "Whare toi Whakaari" the home of the arts. Having my drama comrade with me sharing spaces was both new and challenging but also totally awesome! Making spaces work that haven't been used to their potential for tens of years was exciting to see. What was immediately surprising was seeing how the students reacted to the new interior! New carpets and a bright paint job makes a difference. I could see how the attitudes to the spaces changed. The delight of new cushions ( even though a colleague made a comment that they wouldn't be there by the end of the year!!) They were there!!!!!! In good condition having been carried around as comforters ( yes it is a high school) sat on for floor jam sessions and placed around our new window seats! Who would have thought those things made such a difference???? They do! Having a creative space to work that looks inviting and homely really has brought out the best of all of us this year!!
I will mention a few highlights or my 2017 summary will be 50 pages long. One of my biggest proudest moments this year was my Musical Theatre showcase. This was the first time we have done an NCEA only music performance night. I had studied this genre a lot with my year 13's this year and they loved it! It was their idea to do a full "Musicals" showcase and it was magical! I was bursting with pride seeing the display of professionalism and talent! We buzzed for days after and it is definitely something I want to do each year! We also had another fantastic year at the Shakespeare festival and our international evening was wonderful again!

So now we wait for the start of the 2018 year! Its going to be another biggie with school rebuild in full swing! It is going to be a hard year for teachers and students changing classes and going into new buildings! Despite the stress I know that the rewards will be huge! #hornbypride