Course Descriptions

Taking place in the New School’s Summer Term, our Summer Music for Me courses encourage children aged 3 to 6 to explore some important musical concepts, while having fun in the process with a variety of engaging activities. Children can enter the courses after taking one or more of our First-Third Term Music for Me courses, but the summer courses also provide a great introduction to music for children without any previous musical experience.

Summer Making Music

Designed for children aged 3-4, Summer Making Music provides an excellent opportunity for young children to explore and enjoy music with others of the same age. Together they absorb musical concepts like high and low, fast and slow, steady beat, dynamics and pulse through fun games, call-and-response songs and movement. They learn to use their voices expressively to sing and chant. They become sensitive to phrasing, articulation and dynamics, and demonstrate this while playing percussion instruments, moving creatively to music or drawing what they hear. They will also discover how sound is produced in instruments by tapping, plucking, bowing or blowing.

Summer Musical Adventures

Designed for children aged 4-5, Summer Musical Adventures classes focus on musical storytelling and movement, rhythmic and melodic notation, pitch matching and improvisation on the instruments. Children will also explore the music of different cultures, as well as classical, jazz and Irish traditional music.

Summer Musical Explorations

Designed for children aged 5-6, Summer Musical Explorations provides children with a range of individual, partner and group activities and games through which they can work with more advanced concepts such as music reading, tempo, dynamics and timbre.

Questions about the courses?

See our main Pre-Instrumental Music Programme page for more information about the programme as a whole and Music for Me FAQs page for some frequently asked questions about our Music for Me courses. You can also use our Contact Form or call us on (01) 478 1884.

Parent Participation

Parents are encouraged to volunteer as ‘helpers’ for one of the classes, although this is not a requirement. Volunteers are there not only to assist the Music for Me teacher with class activities but also to understand better what their children are learning. Participating in your child’s class shows how much you value his or her musical discoveries!

If you have enrolled your child in one of these courses, please complete our Parent Participation Form before the course begins, indicating what date or dates you are available to participate.

Child Safety & COVID-19

The health and safety of children attending lessons and courses at the New School is of the utmost importance to us.

First, the New School has a comprehensive Child Protection Policy in place, and all of our teachers are Garda vetted.

And second, we have made a number of changes to our equipment and policies to make the New School as safe as possible during the time of COVID-19. These include:

• Perspex screens in every classroom.
• Installation of HEPA air filtration/purification units where necessary.
• Antiseptic dispensers available throughout the school.
• Cleaning and disinfection of classroom instruments and furniture between lessons and classes.
• Regular cleaning of public spaces.

See our COVID-19 Safety Policy page for more information on what we have done, as well as the protocols we expect students, parents and visitors to follow.

Balbina Rogala

Hailing from Poland, Balbina was interested in music from a very early age and began learning piano at the age of six at a full-time music school in Cracow. She went to study at the Krzysztof Penderecki Academy of Music in Cracow, where she received both a BA degree and a Master’s degree in Music Education. Throughout her twelve-year training, she also studied music teaching methodologies such Dalcroze Eurhythmics, as well history of music, theory of music and choral singing. While studying in the Academy, Balbina participated in the Erasmus Student exchange programme, which enabled her to study choral conducting for a year at the Ottorino Respighi Conservatory of Music in Latina, Italy and Dalcroze Eurhythmics for a year at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien (Academy of Music, Theatre and Media) in Hannover, Germany. She has also taken part in many music projects and masterclasses in Poland, Germany, Italy and Ireland as a chorister, pianist and music educator. Balbina has taught both piano and pre-instrumental (early years) music with a number of music schools in Poland and Ireland, as well as with Music Generation. She also works as a piano accompanist for both instrumentalists and singers preparing for examinations and auditions.

‘I am passionate about music education and the opportunities it provides for personal development, and I have thoroughly enjoyed providing these opportunities to students of all ages over the years. I aim to provide each of my students, whatever his or her level or background, with a diverse, accessible and high-quality educational experience.’

Summer 2024 Class Schedules & Fee

Summer Making Music
4 weeks, 9 – 30 July 2024
Tuesdays 11 am – 12 pm

Summer Musical Adventures
4 weeks, 9 – 30 July 2024
Tuesdays 12.15 – 1.15 pm

Summer Musical Explorations
4 weeks, 9 – 30 July 2024
Tuesdays 1.30 – 2.30 pm

Tuition Fee: €85

Enrolment

Enrolment for one of these courses requires a completed Enrolment Form and full payment of the course fee. Places in each course are limited to twelve, and are available on a first-come, first-served basis, based on the date of enrolment. Many of our group courses fill in advance of their start dates, and early enrolment is recommended.

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Purchasing one of these courses as a gift?
Please complete a Gift Certificate Booking Form.

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Questions about the courses?

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