Practical, fun and accessible sessions, exploring African songs, rhythms and instruments to use in teaching Kindergarten, Primary & Secondary level students.
Expand your repertoire to engage your students with new and exciting games, exercises, and melodic content!
You will receive a digital Certificate of Completion.
Online & In person (Melbourne, Australia): Saturday 5th September 2026
10am – 12pm (AEDT/AEST): Games for Djembes
1pm – 3pm (AEDT/AEST): Games for Small Percussion
Games for Djembe
Explore fun and interactive games for the djembe that help develop auditory, visual, kinaesthetic, language and social skills. You’ll come away loaded with lots of great games and inspiring ideas that you can incorporate into your
drumming sessions.
Games for Small Percussion
There’s lots of fun to be had with shakers, bells and other small percussion! Explore a range of dynamic games that feature the use of a variety of different percussion instruments. These games are all about being creative with
resources, designing learning opportunities that are accessible to a range of students and incorporating a variety of instruments into rhythm-based learning.
Online (Zoom): Saturday 28th November 2026
10am-12pm (AEST/AEDT): Drumming for Social Connectivity
1pm-3pm (AEST/AEDT): Drumming for Mindfulness
Drumming for Social Connectivity
Drumming is a powerful vehicle for encouraging skill development around a range of social skills. Through engaging in a range of drumming games and facilitation techniques we will investigate how the drum can be utilised to
teach valuable social skills such as cooperation and teamwork, effective communication, strong body language and positive interaction.
Drumming for Mindfulness
Drumming can be an incredible meditative tool, allowing participants to focus on the beats, the drum, or their hands, and truly experience themselves in the “here & now”, while promoting awareness of feelings, thoughts and behaviour.
Explore how rhythm can be utilised to facilitate the practice of mindfulness. Drumming is an excellent activity for relieving stress and focusing the mind. This session will include facilitation techniques and ideas for leading drumming sessions that calm and centre the mind.
Online (Zoom): returning in 2027
West African-inspired drumming offers a powerful social and psychological tool that enriches learning, healing, and personal growth across various contexts. The games and activities presented in this course are designed for carers, therapist and educators to help individuals enhance their capacity for building meaningful relationships through mindfulness and collaboration.
Further, they may support each individuals’ ability for emotional regulation through the stimulation of both brain hemispheres and the subsequent reduction of vulnerability to the reactivity of pre-existing inner states of being.
Participants are required to attend both sessions together.
Rates are per participant. Each Session is 2 hours long (12pm-2pm or 3pm-5pm NZST).
One half day – Single session: $150
One full day – Two sessions: $260
Two full days – Four sessions: $490
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If you can’t make it to our group PD sessions, we offer on-demand PDs.
First hour
1 participant $150
2 participants $270
3 participants $370
Each Additional Hour
1 participant $140
2 participants $250
3 participants $350
Simply download ZOOM, create a free account, and start the test to check that your audio and video both work.
Desktop, laptop or ipad
Go to zoom.us on your device’s internet browser
On the top right of your screen there is a bright orange button that says “Sign up, it’s free!” Press this
Once you’ve created an account you can start using Zoom
Apple mobile device
Go into your app store on your phone and type in Zoom in the search bar
Look for the “Zoom Cloud Meetings” app and install it.
Once downloaded, you can either create a new zoom account or login with your existing account.
Android mobile device
Go into your Google play on your phone and type in Zoom in the search bar
Look for the “Zoom Cloud Meetings” app and install it.
Once downloaded, you can either create a new zoom account or login with your existing account.
Testing audio and video
Desktop, laptop or ipad
If you are having issues, you may need to update your webcam drivers. Once you’re logged in, follow these instructions to optimise your Audio for our sessions.
Click the Settings cog in the top right corner of the app’s home screen
Open the Audio tab and click the Advanced button at the bottom right. This will bring up three Audio Processing Options.
There are two background noise suppression options (persistent and intermittent), please disable both of them.
There is one other option: Echo Cancellation. This should be set to Audio.
Mobile device
Before your online class, go into your Zoom app on your smart phone and click on the settings cog at the bottom right of the screen.
Click on Meetings.
Make sure your microphone is always turned on and your video is always turned on.
Professional Learning
Engage in professional learning and adaptively apply this learning in practice.
Learning Focussed Culture
Foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among learners so that they experience an environment in which it is safe to take risks.
Manage the learning setting to ensure access to learning for all and to maximise learners’ physical, social, cultural and emotional safety
Teaching
Teach in ways that ensure all learners are making sufficient progress, and monitor the extent and pace of learning, focusing on equity and excellence for all.
Use an increasing repertoire of teaching strategies, approaches, learning activities, technologies and assessment for learning strategies and modify these in response to the needs of individuals and groups of learners.
Teach in ways that enable learners to learn from one another, to collaborate, to self-regulate and to develop agency over their learning.
(Education Council, 2017)
Djulz began studying and performing West African percussion in Melbourne several years ago. She has travelled West Africa extensively, studying with master drummers and musicians in Mali, Ghana and Burkina Faso. Based in Melbourne, Djulz continues to study and perform with some of Melbourne’s most renown artists in the field including Mady Keita, Bouba Gaye, Sayon Souare and Simon Fraser. Her great love of the djembe and of African culture exudes an infectious energy and creates a fun learning environment in her classes.
Alastair is a lifelong disciple of rhythm, with a background in teaching, linguistics, and mathematics.
He is at the forefront of African Drumming’s community classes, performance groups, and school & corporate events.
Alastair believes in the cognitive and emotional benefits of drumming and has a passion for learning West African rhythms and sharing them with others through the connecting power of drumming.
He is a facilitator at our Teacher Training program.
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