Regents International School Pattaya has begun rolling out a new music curriculum, as part of the unique Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme which was launched in May.
The new curriculum, which is being introduced in classrooms this term, is the result of collaboration between Nord Anglia Education teachers and a team of Music Curriculum Specialists at The Juilliard School in New York. Kristen Callaway, Head of Primary Music, and Emily Andrews, Head of Secondary Music at Regents have both been part of a team of Regents’ music staff who went on a professional development workshop hosted by Juilliard.
Emily Andrews using the new embedded curriculum to help a student understand the Blues.
Andrews, who is also the regional representative for The Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme in South-East Asia, says that the new curriculum is designed to enhance the current curriculum offer, in addition to supporting the development of key skills and promoting cultural literacy.
Enthusiastic students learn to identify chords and notation using actions during an interactive music lesson.
“Research has shown that a background in music can be very beneficial to learners of all ages, even if an individual does not consider themselves particularly ‘musical’,” Emily Andrews explained. “As well as boosting children’s numeracy and computation skills, a music education can also enable learners to develop listening skills and to understand complex concepts. Music has been proven to enhance brain responses, and people with some form of music training are able to process sound and speech more actively and rapidly.”
Parents are invited to learn more about the curriculum through an interactive information evening, where students and staff will demonstrate how the programme will work. The evening will also be a chance to meet the school’s dedicated Music Curriculum Specialist from The Juilliard School, Kathryn Andersen, who is herself an accomplished professional violinist known both nationally and internationally. She received her Masters Degree in Music from The Juilliard School and is also a dedicated teacher and a violin and viola instructor.
The Music Curriculum Evening will be held in the Roundhouse at Regents on Wednesday 21st October at 6pm. Places are limited, for more information and to book your place at this event contact the school on 0384 187 77.
