Sydney Symphony Orchestra to Provide Music Training for Primary School Teachers

Travelling from as far as South Tweed Heads, the teachers hail from 41 schools including Cobar Public School, Ross Hill Public School and Macquarie Fields Public School. They will spend one week participating in intensive music workshops with SSO musicians and music education specialists, learning the skills and techniques they need to confidently and effectively teach music to their students.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra Director of Learning and Engagement Linda Lorenza said the majority of primary school teachers feel intimidated by the prospect of teaching music in their classrooms, despite it being a mandatory subject in the state curriculum.

"There is an overwhelming amount of academic research that proves that music learning does so much to enhance children's learning and development," Ms Lorenza said. "However due to limited music training in their university studies, primary classroom teachers often lack the knowledge and confidence to properly teach music to their students."

Australian universities allocate music training a maximum of 17 hours in undergraduate primary education degrees and 10 hours in graduate primary education degrees, according to research by the Music Council of Australia. This contrasts significantly with teaching degrees in countries such as Finland and South Korea that provide 270 hours and 160 hours of music training respectively.

"The TunED-Up program was initiated in 2014 to empower NSW primary school teachers with the skills and materials they need to effectively teach music in their classrooms, as well as providing them with a support network of passionate primary teacher colleagues from across the state," Ms Lorenza said.

Cobar Public School teacher Kylie Harvey says that her entire school has benefited from her participation in the 2014 TunED-Up program.

"It was wonderful coming back to school after the program and being able to pass on what I had learnt to other teachers in the school and encourage them to implement the concepts in their own classrooms," Ms Harvey said. "The idea that has really shone through is that you can fit music in to whatever you are teaching."

Teachers participating in TunED-Up have been selected for their passion for education, enthusiasm for bringing music to their classrooms, and willingness to share this training with their communities.

Participation in the program will enable teachers to develop their musical experience, pedagogy and classroom practice, and instrumental knowledge. Now in its third year, the highly-acclaimed program will place a strong emphasis on training teachers in effectively using digital resources in their classroom music teaching, with each teacher receiving an iPad to work from for the duration of the program.

TunED-Up has been made possible due to the generous support of Fred Street AM & Dorothy Street. Additional support has been provided by Anne Arcus & Terrey Arcus AM, Ian & Jennifer Burton, Ian Dickson & Reg Holloway, Barbary Murphy, Keith & Eileen Ong and Tony Strachan.

TunED-Up forms part of the SSO's award-winning education program and is accredited to the National Professional Standards through BOSTES.

Teachers taking part in TunED-Up teach at the following NSW schools:

• Al Zahra College
• Alexandra Park Public School
• Ashfield Public School
• Bellingen Public School
• Brunswick Heads Public School
• Cardiff South Public School
• Carlton Public School
• Chatswood Public School
• Cobar Public School
• Cooerwull Public School
• Darcy Road Public School
• Dulwich Hill Public School
• Epping West Public School
• Goodooga Central School
• Gulargambone Central School
• Harrison School
• Holy Saviour School
• Homebush West Public School
• Jasper Road Public School
• Kulnara Public School
• Lurnea High School Intensive English Centre
• Macarthur Anglican School
• Macquarie Fields Public School
• Manly Village Public School
• Matthew Pearce Public School (Kings Langley)
• Middleton Public School
• Parramatta West Public School
• Plunkett Street Public School
• Queanbeyan Public School
• Redfern Jarjum College
• Ross Hill Public School
• Rozelle Public School
• St James Primary School
• Summer Hill Public School
• Swansea Public School
• Sydney Distance Education
• Tingha Public School
• Tumut Public School
• Uranga Public School
• Victoria Avenue Public School
• Wilkins Public School