Sounds of students

Emma from Grade 1 and Shyla from Grade 2 take centre stage at the choir workshop. 169693

By Victoria Stone-Meadows

Students at St Therese’s Primary School in Cranbourne North were treated to a musical workshop with liturgical composer Andrew Chinn.
Mr Chinn visited the school on Tuesday 27 June to work with the students and present a choir to the school community.
Mr Chinn has been recording christian music for children for almost 20 years, drawing on a rich history of Catholic education.
He said working with the students at St Therese’s was a pleasure.
“It was really good, we worked across the grades and the school has been using my music for a while so it was like working on fertile ground,” he said.
“Especially the choir they put together in the evening, they haven’t been performing together for very long but they were very good.”
Mr Chinn has 20 years of experience as a teacher in Catholic education and said working with primary school aged students was all about having a sense of humor.
“I taught everything from Prep to Grade 6 and working with students is about having a well-rounded sense of humor,” he said.
“Students have a very different humor from Prep to Grade 6, so if you can wrap your head around that you can build a rapport quite quickly.”
Mr Chinn worked with the students and related their songs to their religious education to being the workshops and choir together.
“I had a great time at St Therese’s, they have a very experienced principal and I had a fantastic time.”