The Junior School held the first of their Creative Arts performances for the year on Monday as our Prep, Year 5 and 6 students brought to us the delightful production, Alice the Musical.  The students entertained and amused us with their wonderful performances.  On Thursday night we look forward to more laughs and entertainment from our Years 3 and 4 students as they perform Rockin’ Through the Ages and next Wednesday we look forward to the final performances from Kindergarten together with Years 1 and 2 students as they bring to us the show, Billabong Bill.  It is tremendous to see the showcase of talent that we have in our Junior School. The students have been spending many hours practising and their efforts have certainly culminated to give us some fantastic entertainment.  Well done to all the students and a big thank you to the staff for their hard work and of course our parents for your support and help with costumes, props and coming along to the shows.  I am very much looking forward to the rest of the performances. 

We have certainly seen the standards of productions, musical items and the confidence of the students improve over recent times in the Junior School and we do attribute this to the introduction of our Year 4 Compulsory Music Program.  This initiative launched in 2015 and it has been wonderful to see both students and parents embrace the program and be enriched by the experience in many ways. 

While literacy and numeracy are core competencies that all students should have, research does support that learning Music can help students’ self-discipline, team work and self-confidence.  When children learn Music it has also been proven to help students progress further in other key learning areas, such as Maths, Science and English.  Research has shown that countries that place a strong emphasis on musical education tend to perform better in these areas. 

Musical experiences enhance processing which impacts on the perception of language, which in turn affects a students’ ability in learning to read.  It has also been proven that students who engage in music programs have better attendance at school and can be particularly beneficial for students who may not be achieving as well academically in school.  It is important to provide a wide range of opportunities for children to explore and discover a passion and talents that they did not realise they had.

We thank you for your continued support of our music programs. We know that these experiences are memories that stay with our children for life. The joy and excitement they feel, the sense of accomplishment at the end of the day is priceless. Well done to everyone involved.