Congratulations go to Rafi Oakes who has been awarded the CMST Pupil of The Month Award for March, 2018.
Rafi is a committed Trumpeter who has shown great development and a lot of this is due to fantastic support at home along with a structured rehearsal routine. He has also flourished as an ensemble member which, he says is a major contributing factor in helping his rapid progress. Rafi is taught by Claire Churcher, Brass Team Member, and she had some wonderful things to report on when being spoken to about the POTMA award.
“Rafi always comes to his lessons well prepared and very keen to learn. He was so keen to join a county ensemble that he is, I believe, the youngest member of Cornwall Youth Wind Orchestra (CYWO) and I am informed that he and his parents often stay behind and help with the packing down of the kit.”
Claire continued to say “He has thrived on doing exams and has reached a grade 5 standard in a relatively short amount of time. Rafi is an extremely polite young man and an absolute pleasure to teach, he has even been helping his dad at home with his trumpet work.”
Gareth Churcher, Head of Service for CMST, commented “I have had the privilege of working with Rafi in preparation for his exams, and although not everyone chooses to take the examination route, it has been a real driving force for his progression. I also can very clearly see that in the majority of cases, when analysing the statistics, that those children who learn an instrument and take part in an ensemble demonstrate higher rates of progression. More importantly the social skills and well being development are evident and have been proven in many research studies.”
Mr Churcher summarised by saying “This in conjunction with studies that prove children who learn an instrument do so well academically all adds to the argument that more music is better for your overall education. Well done Rafi and keep up the good work!”