by Vanda Quinn
Arncliffe West Infants is a small school of just over 150 students in south-west Sydney, catering for pre-school through Year 2 students, most from non-English speaking, Arabic and Mongolian backgrounds.
Its Principal, Vanda Quinn, and now Assistant Principal (then teacher) Alison Lane were mentored in the 2015 NMTMP pilot by music teacher and mentor David Collins-White. The school had no music provision prior to the mentoring program, and Vanda was so impressed by the impact on children that over the next three years she and Alison together mentored a number of teachers in the school. Outside mentors have been brought in since 2019 to offer fresh perspectives, and this year will see the completion of the cycle where every single teacher at the school has undergone music mentoring. Vanda hopes that in the future many teachers will participate in a second round of mentoring to update their music skills and knowledge.
Vanda believes that the best professional learning occurs in the classroom rather than in attending training courses off site. Tailoring music activities to the individual teacher and classroom and supporting their learning through doing are the cornerstones of the NMTMP.
As a first step the NMTMP developed teachers’ own musicianship with improved singing abilities, repertoire, and musical knowledge reported by the participants.
The NMTMP provided teachers at Arncliffe with the skills and knowledge to teach music and implement music activities as “brain breaks” to re-focus students’ attention. To enhance literacy and numeracy outcomes, Vanda feels it is important first to turn students into sponges that will soak up learning by activating them through music.
Many children arrive at the school with no English but are happy to join in music games and singing. Vanda reports that participation in music activities shortened their non-verbal period and increased their personal confidence. Commenting on individual cases Vanda said that music improved understanding of phonics and helped to regulate mood for a student with autism whilst aural training helped a student with dyslexia when all other approaches had failed. And, as an aside, Vanda noted that the ability to sing at karaoke and dance at a wedding will be useful life skills for the children when they grow up!
Thanks to the NMTMP program, after school piano lessons are now full, and parents want violin lessons for their children. Vanda feels that music mentoring facilitated growth in K–2 school enrolments which have doubled from 60 in 2015 to 120 in 2022.
As a persuaded principal, Vanda has had no difficulty allocating funds each year for music mentoring and teacher relief. She feels that the money spent on this type of professional learning is worth the investment, because it allows teachers to have creative input into and ownership of the program which promotes teacher engagement, individual lesson planning and lively delivery.
Whole-school long-term music mentoring at Arncliffe West Infants has brought rich rewards for children and teachers!