Sharing our Creative Journeys
9am - 3pm (sign in from 8:30am)
Saturday 10 May 2025, Toowoomba Grammar School, East Toowoomba
Saturday 17 May 2025, Wooloowin State School, Wooloowin
Under the mentorship of Nikki Cox, QOSA is excited to be continuing this presenter training initiative that encourages our talented members to share projects and materials developed following their Orff Levels’ experiences.
Our three presenters will be sharing a variety of music and movement activities based on accessible and original material to inspire and ignite your teaching practice.
Treat yourself to a day of creative music making - beautiful ideas, beautiful material, beautiful outcomes.
![20221008_103240[1]](https://qosa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20221008_1032401-150x150.jpg "20221008_103240[1]")
![20221008_103157[1]](https://qosa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20221008_1031571-150x150.jpg "20221008_103157[1]")
SESSION 1
Kathryn Robinson
How To Make a Bird
There is much to learn from a bird and their flock - how we can move, sing and play. But more than that, in making a bird we step out on the journey of the creative process and our creative spirit can be nurtured - much like the Orff approach.
Explore how a book and nature around us can be the vehicle for creative explorations in movement, song and composition and lean into the innate creativity between and around us all as a collective.
SESSION 2
Megan Laurie
Walking Down The Road With You
When you take a walk, there are always lots of layers and textures to see and enjoy. When you take a really long walk across Spain on the Camino, you hear a symphony of languages and meet all sorts of wonderful people! Come and explore layers of texture, timbre and composition via pathways & trails, rhythms & melody, and an original song inspired by Megan’s travels in 2024.
SESSION 3
Deborah Smith
Demystifying Composition with Chance Music
Step right up! Everyone’s a winner! Join Deb at the musical circus as she leads you down sideshow alley to learn about the elements of music in a fun and engaging manner. See how devices like spinners, dice, lucky dips and random number generators can take the stress out of composition tasks from Prep to Year 6, with an exploration into chance music. Discover ways to empower your students to think musically about their own and other’s compositions.
Kathryn is a passionate music educator dedicated to fostering joyful and meaningful music education that taps into the deeper benefits of music for young students. Kathryn first discovered the Orff approach at a workshop in Sydney but didn’t return to it until moving to Brisbane where she delved into the primary classroom. She has since then completed Levels 1-3 in the Orff Schulwerk Pedagogy and hopes to soon attend the International Summer School in Salzburg. It is a process she is continually inspired by - not only for her students and their sessions together, but also as a creative herself.
Kathryn has taught in a variety of educational contexts, including secondary, primary, and special education, gaining a broad perspective on the unique needs and strengths of diverse learners. Kathryn is now a teacher at Pine Community School, a democratic and play-based primary school where she continues to share the Orff approach aiming to cultivate environments that encourage exploration, creativity, growth but overall joy.
Outside the classroom, Kathryn is a lover of the garden, spending time outdoors hiking, and more recently has become a knitter and seamstress.
Megan is a firm advocate and aficionado of the Orff Schulwerk. Also a workshop and conference junkie, she loves to connect with people, good music and movement, and lifelong learning. Discovering the Orff approach 15 years ago, she has been connected to, and then involved in QOSA for most of those years, attending many workshops and completing all four Australian Levels courses.
Currently serving as President, she is grateful to have this opportunity to be mentored and develop her presentation skills. Megan has taught in primary and secondary schools in north and south east Queensland.
The creativity, elemental nature and accessibility of Orff Schulwerk speaks to her. She hopes you find a deepening connection with the approach as you explore, play, and simply enjoy the sessions that are ‘Simply Orff’.
Discovering long distance walking in the last 10 years or so, Megan’s places for refreshment are the bush and particularly, the beach.
Deb has served on the QOSA and ANCOS committees in various roles since 2013. She is the immediate past president and currently Vice President (Conference). She has been teaching for over 30 years in a variety of contexts and systems including early childhood, primary classroom and music and secondary maths in both state and private schools. She is currently teaching music part-time at Bray Park State School.
Deb had her first experience with the Schulwerk in 2011, after a sideways step into classroom music teaching required some upskilling. The pure joy of making music in such an accessible way to all students has led Deb to continue her journey with Orff, completing Level 4 in 2022. Her passion for music as an innate human instinct that we are all capable of, drives Deb to provide her students with opportunities to create in every lesson.
More recently, Deb has completed a Graduate Certificate in Trauma Aware Education and is exploring the way that the child-centred, playful and creative elements central to the Orff Schulwerk can assist in her second role as an Inclusion Teacher.
- Morning tea provided.
- BYO lunch.
- Please ensure you wear clothes and footwear appropriate to move with ease.
- Notes will be provided for all sessions.
- QOSA approved certificates are provided, including hours of attendance.
For further information, please contact info@qosa.org.au
Please note, access to Google Forms is blocked by some school systems and you may need to use a personal device to access the digital form.
Registrations close:
Toowoomba Workshop - Monday 5 May 2025
Brisbane Workshop - Monday 12 May 2025
Please complete the registration form below concurrent with payment.
Costs: (includes bonus 2025 QOSA membership)
Full price $180
Student price $110
Existing Member Discount Costs:
Full $100
Student $65
(Students must provide evidence of full-time status, institution and course name)