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Kodály Certificate Foundation Level CPD Certified Course

Are you a Nursery or Primary teacher looking for practical ideas to support music teaching in your school?

This CPD Accredited course is for you! NO PREVIOUS MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED!

This course is aimed at those with little or no previous musical training or those who are completely new to Kodály Inspired Music Education. You will go away equipped with ideas to use immediately in your teaching and receive an introduction to the Kodály Approach.

The course will cover the following topics:

• The importance of singing, games and movement in the Early Years/Primary Education
• Develop confidence as a leader of singing activities
• Helping children understand the basic building blocks of music: Beat, Rhythm, Pitch, Dynamics, Tempo, Phrasing and Timbre
• Using simple classroom percussion to support a singing based curriculum
• How music benefits all areas of the curriculum – specifically literacy, numeracy, health and well-being
• Encouraging creativity in the classroom
• Full descriptions available below or by downloading BKA Foundation Certificate – Course Content Description (updated Oct 2019)

To be awarded the accredited certificate the full course must be completed

Online Course Tutors
Ben Lawrence, Emma Ede and Helen Blackmore.

Fees for Online Course in 2021
The fees are £125 for the 10 week course

How do I book?
All our online courses and classes are available to book online. The dates and times can be viewed and selected on the booking form. These times will change as classes fill up so don’t delay. You will receive a confirmation email with your booked class time. Don’t worry if your booked class time disappears from the booking form, it just means your class is now full. If your preferred class is fully booked, please add your name to a waiting list as we will always consider opening another class if there is sufficient interest.

How do I get more information?
Any course questions should be raised before submitting the booking form – email Lucinda Geoghegan on education@kodaly.org.uk
For bookings once made, the Administrator is Margaret Oliver shop@kodaly.org.uk
For financial questions, contact John Oliver on treasurer@kodaly.org.uk

In Person Modules
All in-person modules are currently being reviewed and announcements will be made once the post-Covid-19 future is clearer. For comparison: In-person modules are usually run over two consecutive days and cost £125 per module excluding lunch and any necessary accommodation.

For further details contact Lucinda Geoghegan on education@kodaly.org.uk For other levels of Certification from the British Kodály Academy please visit our Certification page.

BKA Foundation Certificate Course Contents

Module 1 – FC01 (2 days in person) or FCi01 (10 hours over 5 weekly online classes)

• Singing for starters Singing games suitable for use in Early Years (0 to 7). A practical session exploring the variety of singing games and rhymes suitable for early stages of development (vocally, cognitively, physically).
• Singing Games for the Primary Classroom Singing games suitable for use with children age 7 to 11. A practical session exploring a variety of singing games and rhymes suitable for older children. More complex games appealing to this age group being fun but challenging at the same time.
• What is suitable repertoire and how do we lead it?  Warm up and recap of some games from the previous session. The importance of choosing appropriate material according to the vocal capabilities of children. Learning about the child voice (vocal range, comfortable singing pitch) Looking at a selection of resources with useful repertoire for young children. How to become a useful role model for children.
• Singing games are good for you! Discovering the holistic benefits of singing games. Why is it important to move! How singing / rhymes can support the development of literacy, numeracy, health and well-being.
• Beat it! How do we encourage the child’s ability to keep a steady beat.  What are the important steps to support the development of steady beat. Practical activities to show progression from experiencing steady beat to independently and confidently showing a steady beat.
• I got rhythm! Introduction to rhythm and the differentiation of beat and rhythm. Preparation for rhythm reading – the importance of preparing for music literacy. Introduction to simple rhythm notation – very early music literacy skills.

Module 2 – FC02 (2 days in person) or FCi02 (10 hours over 5 weekly online classes)

• Warm up with singing! Some new singing games and rhymes for early years and primary. Discussion about song leading and the importance of being a good role model for the children
• Essential musical building blocks How to engage children in the development of essential concepts in music education: Beat/Rhythm, development of singing skills – how to encourage children to find their singing voice and to pitch match, phrasing, structure and form, dynamics, tempo and timbre. Using simple classroom percussion to enhance musical learning.
• Song and game leading Participants to create games and work together to lead the practical session. Evaluation and feedback on the activities created and how they were introduced to the other participants. Criteria for being an effective role model discussed in light of the practical demonstrations. Self evaluation.
• Singing in tune and pitch matching Warm ups games.  Some useful advice for helping children to sing in tune. Individual singing games to help with solo singing.
• What is meant by Kodály inspired education? An introduction to the Kodály philosophy and the tools used in a Kodály inspired programme (solfa, handsigns, rhythm names). An introduction to the sequential, child friendly approach to music education based on experiential learning, later made conscious and then practiced or reinforced. Guidance as to how to include all children in music making supporting Kodály’s idea that “Music belongs to everyone”.
• Preparing for reading from the stave Working with stick notation for rhythm work, developing an understanding of higher and lower and melodic shape, understanding the importance of building a song bank of useful material to introduce children to different rhythmic and melodic patterns in a “sound before symbol” approach
• Musical reading and writing! Exploring a number of learnt songs and how they would appear in notation.  Marrying rhythm and pitch reading together. Exploring solfa in stick notation and how it transfers to the stave.