Meaningful, Musical Assessment

Meaningful, Musical Assessment

Assessment. It’s part of every learning and teaching experience, and as committee member Amy Hall writes, is often misunderstood as the final destination—a grade at the end of a term, a performance polished to perfection. However, for those of us...

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To Recorder or Not Recorder?!

To Recorder or Not Recorder?!

Why should I bother to teach recorder in my class? It’s a waste of time! It relates to nothing….’ WAOSA LIfe member, and ANCOS Levels Presenter Jackie Ewers, considers the benefits of including recorder in the music classroom. Read on to explore...

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LET’S CELEBRATE!

LET’S CELEBRATE!

On Saturday, 12th October, the WAOSA family gathered to celebrate 30 years of Orff Schulwerk in Western Australia. The evening kicked off with the rhythmic beats of taiko drumming, thanks to Simon from Taiko-on, filling the Rossmoyne Bowling Club...

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LEST WE FORGET!

Every year, in the lead up to ANZAC Day, we remember the brave, the fallen and the courageous as well as those who are still protecting our freedom and sacrificing time with their families for our country. This year, WAOSA would like to share the...

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FALLING LEAVES!

FALLING LEAVES!

After hearing of the recent passing of Denise Gagne, a truly wonderful leader in Music Education, we share our condolences and gratitude for everything that Denise shared in her leadership and teaching. Thank you, Denise, for all you have done to...

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The Year of the Dragon!

The Year of the Dragon!

Welcome back to School for 2024…. The Year of the Dragon! 🐲🐉 As we head into the Lunar New Year this Saturday 10th February, here is some wonderful inspiration for an Orff-style inspired chant that you can use in many wonderful ways in your...

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A SNAPSHOT OF ORFF-SCHULWERK

A SNAPSHOT OF ORFF-SCHULWERK
This term, we are throwing back to our 2023 ASME Summer School Sessions run by Orff Masters, Eboney Yapp and Andy Stewart. Eboney and Andy have been heavily involved in the State and National levels of Orff-Schulwerk for many years and have a very passionate understanding of the value and growth that Orff can provide for both students and music educators.
This past summer, Eboney and Andy ran a session each at the annual ASME Summer School to give participants a thorough understanding of the joy, creativity and hands-on interaction that Orff brings to every classroom. 
The notes to Eboney’s session titled “Guided Listening – An Orff Approach” can be found at this link below.
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Eboney Yapp ASME SS 2023 Orff Presentation

The notes to Andy’s session titled “Exploring Orff through Movement” can be found at this link below.
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Asme Summer School 23 ANDY STEWART NOTES

Many thanks to both Eboney and Andy for their ongoing and continuous work for our WAOSA committee. Their drive and inspiration to share their knowledge of Orff-Schulwerk with other music educators in our local and wider networks is absolutely wonderful. 
If you would like to know more, please check out our events page as we are running some incredible PL these holidays including all Levels 1-4 with Robyn Stavely, Carol Richards, Jackie Ewers, Susie Davies-Splitter, Eboney Yapp and Kailee Marshall.
Carol and Robyn will also be running a special Richard Gill “Connections” course for the first time ever, discussing the past, present and future connections of Orff-Schulwerk. Don’t miss out!
For more information or registrations, click below.

https://www.waosa.org.au/events/

 

BOOM Whacky Wednesday!

BOOM Whacky Wednesday!

At our last network meeting in 2022, we explored the whackiness and fun of Boomwhackers with Amanda Johnston and Ash Bisdee. We sang, played, tapped, banged, moved, explored, laughed and chanted our hearts out with the immense and colourful fun...

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NAIDOC SCARF DANCE

NAIDOC SCARF DANCE

The theme for NAIDOC 2022 is ‘Get up, stand up, show up!’ This year, the music specialists (along with their LOTE specialist) at Aubin Grove Primary have choreographed a simple scarf dance to share with their whole school community to...

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THANK YOU, EBONEY!

THANK YOU, EBONEY!

It is an absolute honour to acknowledge and thank Eboney Yapp for her dedication and the generosity that she has shown to WAOSA over the past four years as President of WAOSA. She has volunteered countless hours of her time to this role...

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HARMONY DAY FOLK DANCES

HARMONY DAY FOLK DANCES

Happy Harmony Day to all of our WAOSA Members! We hope you are enjoying celebrating Harmony Day with some amazing music from all around the world. This year, as a tribute to honouring the beauty of the Eastern European cultures that we are all...

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Diwali Orff Dance

Diwali Orff Dance

  Sourced fromTeachingwithorff.com Written by Manju Durairaj   Diwali for the year 2021 is celebrated/ observed on Thursday, November 4. Diwali is held on 15th day of the month of Kartika in the Hindu calendar and celebrates the festival...

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Uke Can Orff PD Notes

Uke Can Orff PD Notes

Our WAOSA Committee recently hosted our North Metro Network Meeting on the 12th May, kindly hosted by Laura Walker at Wembley Downs Primary School. Thank you to everyone who attended this fun afternoon of ukulele and song. Presented by Liz, Laura...

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Walking On Country

Walking On Country

Thank you, Jane Nicholas, for sharing this wonderful movement-based music game with us to celebrate NAIDOC week. We also acknowledge and thank Sharron Mirli Bell for sharing her beautiful voice and language. Click on image below “Walking on...

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WINTER ORFF-I-NESS!

WINTER ORFF-I-NESS!

  We hope you have all survived this crazy term leading into Winter 2020. To help you with your planning for the upcoming winter months in music, here are some “orff-ily” gorgeous chants and songs as inspiration. Click on the song...

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Dear Music Teachers

Dear Music Teachers

  As Term 2 is about to commence, we understand that a lot of music specialists may be feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or confused. The committee members would like to share a special message with you all. Please make sure you are taking time...

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Podcasts for Kids

Podcasts for Kids

Thanks Kailee for sharing these great podcasts for students and teachers! You can listen to podcasts for free via the a podcast app on your device (some examples are shown below) or you can even go to some of the website links and listen online...

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Scavenger Hunts!

Scavenger Hunts!

What better way to get children looking for musical things at home than to set up a Scavenger Hunt for them! Thanks Ash Bisdee for starting us off with her worksheet below:   Sound Scavenger Hunt by Ash Bisdee JPEG version: Right click image...

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Body Percussion Activities

Body Percussion Activities

Thanks Ash Bisdee for sourcing the following worksheets/pictures and thank you to the Professional Development Services for Teachers (Ireland) for giving us permission to use them!   It’s a great little resource and gives teachers a quick...

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Beth’s Notes

Beth’s Notes

Need to find some new repertoire for your classroom without breaking the bank? Have you tried Beth’s Notes? This amazing website includes a huge amount of repertoire and gives suggestions on how you can go about teaching these songs. You can...

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What is Orff?

What is Orff?

So there’s Kodaly, there’s Dalcroze, but you’re on the Orff page right now, so what is Orff? The best way to understand what Orff is, is to attend one of our PD’s. From one of these, you’ll notice that Orff is a hands...

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