Ellie is a fully qualified and experienced primary teacher, literacy specialist, piano teacher and composer, writer of children’s plays and performance poems, music education specialist, and a classroom management problem solver/consultant.
To fit in all these qualifications and experience means she is no longer a young chick but a wise older lady with a lot to give to those still travelling the road.
Education
- Grafton NSW High School
- Wollongong Teachers’ College – Primary: two years full time
- Sydney Conservatorium of Music – Secondary Music and English: four years full time (Dip.Mus.Ed. with Merit)
- Piano Teacher Accreditation – Sydney Conservatorium of Music
In-service courses
- Dorothy Heathcote Drama
- Classroom Art and Creative Colour Techniques
- Gifted and Talented Education
- Orff Schulwerk Music
- Kodaly music
- Lindemood Literacy
- Spalding Literacy
- Speech, Poetry and Movement in Creative Performance
Choral Experiences
- Member of various choirs from an early age;
- Sydney Opera House choir and orchestra performances conducted by Richard Gill;
- Sydney Philharmonia Choir;
- Performing Arts Association Choir, Coffs Harbour NSW.
Teaching summary
- Khancoban Public School (Snowy Mountains NSW) class teacher
- Manly Public School (Sydney) class teacher
- St Mary’s College, Wollongong – Music Co-ordinator Yrs 7 to 10 and cathedral organist for school events; public concert organiser, organised coach travel and subscription ballet excursions to Sydney Opera House over several years; piano accompanist for G and S performances
- Ravenswood, Sydney Lower Primary music specialist, accompanist; musical play author and producer
- Waterloo, Erskineville, Newtown – Three-year Disadvantaged Schools Program as a Years K – 6 Creative Arts Demonstration teacher, Art, Music and Drama. (twenty-two demonstration lessons per week; organised public art exhibitions, concerts and drama performances for the three schools)
- Knox Grammar School – Yrs 1 to 4 Art teacher and later Year One class teacher; author and producer of end-of-year musical plays; accompanist for musicals and violin soloists
- PLC Melbourne – Year 6 class teacher; commissioned to write a 90 minute multicultural musical play for Years Five and Six called Riders; full stage production
- Ascham, Sydney; Lower primary class music; integration of the creative and performance arts with literacy; (informal) consultant for high-level class Assembly items; wrote/composed/produced/directed end-of-year musicals.
Retired from class teaching – moved from Sydney to Coffs Harbour NSW
- Coffs Harbour Regional Conservatorium – piano teacher Preliminary to Grade 8 – twelve years (part time)
- President of 80-member Performing Arts Association choir and orchestra. Choir rehearsal accompanist and organ soloist. Designed and co-ordinated combined choir and orchestra concert programmes for public performances over six years (volunteer position).
- Musicianship teacher – small group.
- Choral Director and Accompanist – Coffs Harbour Conservatorium Singers; ‘Tone Deaf’ Choirs.
- Moved to Toowoomba, Queensland in 2015.
- Now concentrating on writing English literacy books and composing piano and choral music as a hobby.
Published Works
Very Loud Stories – plays for a class of reading partners
(These stories are perfect for home reading parent/child bonding.)
- The Fox and the Crow
- Henny Penny
- Echo and Narcissus
- King Midas and the Golden Touch
- The Three Billy Goats Gruff
- Little Red Riding Hood and the Five Senses
Shared Reading Partner Plays
- Who Will Bell the Cat?
- Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- Jack and the beanstalk
- The Fox and the Goat
- The Gingerbread Man
- Little Red Riding Hood
- The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
- The Two Travellers
- The Enormous Turnip
- The Hare and the Tortoise
- The Wind and the Sun
- The Three Wishes
- The Fox and the Crow
- The Man, the Boy and the Donkey
- The Ugly Duckling
LOUD Poetry for Shared and Class Reading
and Performance
- Toad
- The Three Little Pigs in Rhyme
- Captain
- Storm!
- Slick Limericks – 35 original limericks
- Loud Poems for Noisy Kids
Scripted Plays illustrated with artworks
- The Story of Pandora
- The Riddle of the Sphinx
Oral Language and Speech
- Mighty Mouth Movers Student Book
- Mighty Mouth Movers Teaching Manual
- Oral Language for Pre-Schoolers and Pre-Readers
- Oral Language for Beginner Readers
- Oral Language for Budding Actors
Classroom Management – Super Teacher Series
- Getting to the Heart of Learning Problems
- From Bully to Model Citizen
- Fixing Bad Behaviour
The Reading Works Series
- Vowels
- Consonants
- Blends
- Digraphs
- The Schwa
- Silent Letters
- Contractions
- Homophones and Heteronyms
- Uncountable Nouns (Collective and plural nouns without s on the end)
- A-Z Letters and their Sounds
- IPA Sounds and their Letters
- Wonder Words (word families)
- Nuts and Bolts Literacy Teaching Manual
Reading Works Charts
- The Letters and Sounds of the Basic Alphabet
- Vowels
- Consonants
- Blends
- Digraphs
- The Schwa
- Silent Letters
- Contractions
- Homophones and Heteronyms
(Note: A3 format individual charts and A4 personal chart booklet available from Ellie on request.)
Music Books and Compositions – click for details
- Accurate First Time Piano Scales (www.pianoscales.com.au)
- We All Live in Australia – from the Dreamtime to the present time, we honour and cherish Australia because it is our home
- Earth Song – We are riders together on this fragile planet – SATB a capella
- When Your Pants Begin to Go – Words Henry Lawson
- Internet Song
- It’s Time to Sing! (Children’s Songbook/Reader; Teaching Manual)
- Learn to Read Music by Drawing – workbook
- Music Lesson and Practice Logbook
- The New Alphabet Song
School Musicals – contact Ellie for details
- The Fairy Who Wouldn’t Fly – based on Australian story by Pixie O’Harris
- Over the Moon
- Flying to the Rescue
- A Tight Spot for Santa
- Riders – a multicultural musical
Other books
- Ten Pretty Butterflies – a counting book
- How to Draw the Sun