Resources for leaders of secondary school aged voices

Access our open education resources here, including our new warm-up videos.

Visit our general resource bank for more tips and hints, including our webinar bank.

abcd members have access to a bigger range of resources, as well as many other benefits: find out more about joining us here.

New: Leading singing in secondary schools

Our new online course for secondary teachers is now open for booking! Seven twilight training sessions online for anyone working with singers of secondary school age. This brand new flexible course is designed to develop confidence, knowledge and skills for teachers, of all experience levels, who lead secondary-school age singers, whether that's in a choir or in a classroom. All sessions are recorded, so you can watch live or at your leisure. Find out more and book your place here.

Training courses

Check out the latest schedule of live and online events for everyone leading singing here and find out more about our general choral conducting programme here.

Leading Singing in Secondary Schools

A bespoke course specially for teachers who wish to develop their knowledge of leading singing for young and changing voices.Suitable for:

Secondary School teachers
Music Hubs
Student teachers (PGCE and SCIT)
Upper KS2 Primary teachers responsible for leading singing/music co-ordinators

We recommend that the course is run as a 3-day course, though it can be adapted and reduced to 1 or 2 days if required. The course can be spread out over a period of months and held at times to suit your individual group, including Saturdays or twilights. The course works best with a minimum of 10 participants and a maximum of 17. Detailed content will be tailored to the group as appropriate, but will cover the following key skills, dependent on the length of the course:

Vocal health, development and awareness
Finding your voice
Using your voice to lead singing confidently
Vocal health for teachers
Boys' and girls' changing voices
Repertoire
Practical warm-up ideas
Relevant, road-tested repertoire (including Cambiata)
Ensemble singing in the classroom
Encouraging and developing use of singing within the music curriculum
Teaching tools and strategies for enabling good quality singing
Musicianship skills and aural awareness
Range and vocal quality
Using the voice expressively and creatively, leading into improvisation/composition
The teacher as conductor
Encouraging positive engagement, participation, artistry and respect
How to establish, develop and maintain choirs/vocal ensembles

Contact Us

For more details, or a chat about your particular requirements, email our Training Manager Elisabeth Brierley, or call her on 07805 454563.

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