CWSMTA Chairman’s report 2015
2014/2015 saw a change in all three positions for CWSMTA. Secretary, Treasure and Chairman. I’d like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the previous position holders, Janet, Abby and Rachael. These three members have been very influential over the years and have provided great support and P.D opportunities for all the CWSMTA members.
I would also like to give my appreciation to both Georgina and Sue for picking up these crucial roles. They have both done an outstanding job and are a real asset to both CWSMTA and the wider Christchurch musical community. We are very fortunate to have them both here.
I would also like to acknowledge the music HODs and teachers that have given their support over this time of change. We truly have an outstanding knowledge base here in Canterbury and Westland and I’ve really enjoyed going out and seeing what is going on in other schools and communities.
I had three main objectives for CWSMTA. 1. To implement and start local and national cluster meetings for all music teachers. 2. To update and make the web site more user friendly with access for all members of CWSMTA. 3. To recruit more schools to join CWSMTA.
Cluster meetings
Year to date CWSMTA have implemented and run three cluster meetings. One here in CHCH, one on the West Coast and one in South Canterbury. I see these cluster meetings as CWSMTA’s main line of business. They provide a platform for teachers to talk about the standards, compare marking schedules and to provide feedback for students work and to compare their students work with others. Most music departments are small and these meetings hopefully proved a safe environment for teachers to bring students work to the table. Both the CHCH and the Timaru cluster meetings were very well attended and some great student work was on show. The West Coast cluster meeting was also attended by Hagley staff and was very well received although only two out of the five schools attended. I feel it is still very important to create a strong CWSMTA link to the West Coast ; however due to the expense, I have suggested that CWSMTA only goes over every two years as I feel more benefit might be gained if they were to attend a cluster meeting in CHCH every other year. This year sees cluster meeting in CHCH, Timaru and Nelson.
Web Site
I’d like to acknowledge the hard work Georgina Rees-Stevenson has done in creating the new CWSMTA web site. This site offers information, links and resources that are freely available to all CWSMTA members. We are very lucky to have such a talented web designer that was willing to develop the web site further. Well done G.
Recruitment
Through cluster meetings 7 more schools are now signed up including schools in Nelson, West Coast and Timaru. I would like to see further schools signing up especially in Nelson and we will be working hard to contact as many schools as possible before the Nelson cluster meeting in September. Through this network we can offer real help and my goal is to create a buddy system where HODs and TICs and be buddied up with first and second year teachers and music teachers/itinerants that may need specific help in certain areas. The newly designed web site will be critical for this system to work properly.
Finally, CWSMTA has also continued to support the Scholarship workshop at Rangi Ruru and will continue to support the Orchestra Festival when and if required. I am also very keen to develop further P.D opportunities for members and welcome any suggestions for areas that music teachers would like to receive P.D in.
Thank you to all the CWSMTA members that have made this transition run smoothly, and especially the Secretary and Treasurer. Outstanding. I feel very lucky and fortunate to be in this position and I’m looking forward to seeing more schools in the future and the great work that is being done around the South Island.
Dave Pitt
President CWSMTA