Covid 19 coronavirus: Sistema Whangārei take lessons online

Sam Winterton, Sistema Whangārei programme director, gives a lesson through Facebook Live. Photo / Supplied

The aim of Sistema Whangārei is to impact the lives of children through music - and not even lockdown can put a stop to that.

While face-to-face lessons are off the cards, technology has allowed Sistema Whangārei-Toi Akorangi, a community-based orchestral programme, to continue teaching kids during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Sam Winterton, Sistema Whangārei programme director, said it was important to find a way for students to learn from home.

"It's the wellbeing of our children and our community. We take for granted life, until the stuff you've got is gone. So not to have it - it's quite unthinkable."

Sistema Whangārei is based on Venezuela's El Sistema movement, one of the world's most successful music and social development programmes. It is aimed at children who might not normally have the opportunity to participate.

Winterton said they were using Zoom and Facebook Live to do lessons. Instruments were given to students prior to lockdown.

"The feedback that we're getting so far - and it's not as vast as you get when you see people in front of you - but it's very positive from whānau. They're saying that they're feeling the connection."

Winterton said Sistema Whangārei had already been looking at ways to utilise the internet for teaching, and the lockdown had fast-tracked that.

"It's definitely something we were considering to support more rural communities.

"Somebody who started with us moved away and they're keeping in contact, they're following the Facebook Live stream. It opens up a whole lot of possibilities."

Winterton said she encouraged students to share their videos.

"We had a lovely video of two of our new group people and one of them is sitting on the bed and the other one is sitting on the floor with the computer in front of them while they're doing their lesson. It's just a really gorgeous video, it brings a lump to your throat."

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website