We are very sad to see that Ken Ham's music store is closing down.  They have been a great supporter of our Music Academy.  We suggest you get in quick for all your music requirements and make the most of their closing down sale specials!  

If you are struggling to find any instruments or other music items you need, please do not hesitate to ask Stephanie Ham to use her contacts to help.  You can email her at: music@rvs.school.nz

A quick heads up re the timeline for the RVS Music Academy over the coming fortnight:

• Tuesday 5th Feb enrollment packs are coming home with students - first in first served so get those enrollments coming back quick!
• Tues 5th - Friday 8th Feb: Instruments hired last year (violins and guitars) need to be returned to the school office for check ups before being hired out again.
• Tuesday 12th is the cut-off date for enrollment forms to be returned to the school office
• Fri 15th to Mon 18th Feb: Confirmation emails with lesson times will be sent out 
• Week 4, Tuesday 19th Feb: Music lessons will start for Year 2 and 9 students
• Week 4, Wednesday 20th Feb: Music lessons will start for Rooms 5 & 6 students
• Week 4, Thursday 21st Feb: Music lessons will start for Rooms 3 & 4 students

Please Note:  Drum students  will start lessons in Week 5 as Mrs Harper will be away week 4.

Hi All,

Welcome to another year of wonderful music making!  A big thank you to all those who pre-registered their interest in this years lessons, that info has been very helpful in our planning.    Enrolment packs for the Music Academy will be coming home next week, but based on our current info, I can tell you the following: 

Room 7: There is currently lots of space for Room 7 students to take up lessons on the drum kit or guitar.

Rooms 5 & 6: There is currently a lot of room available for those who would like to begin learning keyboard. We would also like to see more students learning the Saxophone or Clarinet – if either of these instruments interests you, please see Mrs Ham quickly for information on how you can hire a Saxophone or Clarinet quite cheaply as this opportunity will disappear fast.

Rooms 3 & 4: If you can’t wait to get into Room 5 so you can have lessons on the drum kit, then we have a new opportunity for you! Students in rooms 3 & 4 can now enrol in a course that teaches you about rhythm and how to coordinate your arms and legs to drum on different things at the same time. During this course you’ll be learning to drum on anything you can find at home that mum is happy for you to use, and getting yourself ready to be an excellent player on the drum kit once you get to Room 5.
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We are now taking Expressions of Interest in 2019 RVS Music Academy lessons via an online form.  This is a non-binding indication to help us plan for next year, but because it is so helpful to us we give a higher priority to those students who pre-register than to those who wait till Week 1 to register.  Demand for music lessons is high and with the school roll increasing significantly next year we are looking at adding an extra afternoon of lessons as well as some after school lesson time on Wednesdays.  As our planning progresses it may become clear we need to restrict some lessons to particular class levels, due to building space and tutor availability - all of this will be made clear in the information sent out in Week 1.  What information we have available now is written below, and Students need to be at Year 2 level or above to register for music lessons.

Due to the high demand we may not be able to fit everyone in, therefore it needs to be understood that priority placement for lessons is given as follows:
First: To current students continuing on with the same instrument in 2019;
Second: To students who pre-register their interest in learning music next year by end of 2018;

Please note: Alison Dight has indicated she will be pulling back on Vocal lessons in 2019 and teaching only those senior students who wish to compete next year.  She expects to be back to full swing in 2020 when all her children are in school.

Please also note: At this stage we are not certain we will have a violin tutor in 2019, so parents of current students may wish to book them into lessons elsewhere, however we will do our best to meet this need for 2019.

To register your interest in 2019 Music Academy lessons, please use this link here and fill in the form (one form per child):
 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdFFXdj2h456m4wr7NqX7EKixGbMpNI3VeA4pkkrNDVIuh0KQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Remember - this is an indication only.  The actual registration forms for the Music Academy will be sent home in Week 1 of 2019 along with information about all the lessons we have available.  

We are looking forward to our first Recital Evening, on Tuesday 27th November, 6pm.
If you would like your child to perform, please register them by 10am Friday 23rd November. 
The link to the registration page has been emailed to all parents of music students, but can also be found here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenJaOsKDLpq_VokuaoXA-ykVTb44hiCnUZlJKFqBwfG6iBrA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Here are the details of the Recital Evening:

Mark it in your calendar - Tuesday November 27th from 6pm.  All children having music lessons through the Music Academy will be encouraged to perform for their parents and fellow students.  Further details to come.

The Orchestra and Choir are once again joining with the Blenheim Baptist Community Church to do an outreach to people from Old Folks homes.  The Baptist church host an afternoon tea at their premises and we present a half hour themed concert.  This year we are presenting five disney songs, through which we will tell a version of the biblical story of the prodigal son.  This will be during school hours on the afternoon of November 14th.  Sorry, parents not allowed to attend (but see below for an opportunity to see what your kids are up to)

Below I have posted links to all the tunes for the choir in particular to get quickly familiar with - you know some but may not yet know all the songs, so please practice and home and learn the words well.   

Please Note:  In weeks 3 and 4 we will be practicing together after school 3 - 4pm on Wednesdays to get this concert ship-shape.  Parents are encouraged to come watch in week 4 to give the kids an audience to rehearse to.