Gotta sing to learn

If you are a teacher or a parent of a primary school child, and you believe that singing is of great educational value, then you might want to see how you can get the kids involved in the international programme World Voice, which will run in Cyprus for the first time this month.

The programme, which is being organised by the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation in collaboration with the British Council, will give children the opportunity to get to know songs and melodies from the 18 countries – along with our Cypriot musical heritage – that take part in the programme.

World Voice enables children to use song as a means of communication with one another, and a way to learn about other cultures and traditions. According to the British Council website “our World Voice programme enhances children’s learning across the curriculum, in countries around the world, through the act of singing. By integrating singing into classroom life, children’s musicality is improved but also their awareness of other cultures by learning songs from other countries.”

World Voice is a vibrant, growing movement which began in 2013 in Senegal and India and the network has since extended to include Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Palestine, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zimbabwe and the UK. The programme works on a train the trainer principle, in that, highly-skilled British trainers pass on their expertise to teachers and pupils to offer a unique and lively range of techniques to use song as a tool for learning.

This initiative is part of the education programme #deneinaisxoleio for primary schools. Over a five-month period, the programme will visit schools all over the island.

World Voice
A world voice programme for children as part of the school programme. January 9 until June. Around the island. Every Monday at 9am-11am. Free. Tel: 22-128157

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