A Message From The Song Room:

The Song Room brightens the future for all young people in Australia through impactful, evidence-led arts learning programs. We exist to address root causes of educational inequity to improve the learning, wellbeing, personal development, and community involvement of young people experiencing disadvantage. 

“Improving educational outcomes for all young Australians is central to the nation’s social and economic prosperity and will position young people to live fulfilling, productive and responsible lives.” - The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration

Research confirms that sustained access to The Song Room’s initiatives boosts student engagement, creates a sense of belonging, and develops the full range of cognitive, emotional and social skills essential for young people to thrive.

“When I do arts lessons, I use lots of different parts of my brain. I use my memory, my thinking, my imagination, and the bit that makes me listen better. I feel excited when I do Song Room classes because I learn new things every week. It is the only reason I come to school on Tuesdays.”  - Year 5 Student, The Song Room program 2022

Over the last 23-years, more than 450,000 Australian students have directly participated in The Song Room’s curriculum-aligned arts education programs, and 32,000 teachers have subscribed to its digital arts education portal, ARTS:LIVE. Our impact is made possible alongside schools, partners, and local communities to embed sustainable outcomes for children to thrive. 

This year is shaping up to be our most critical yet. 

Our top strategic priorities are designed to respond to Australia’s most pressing educational challenges, including:

• Educational equity – reducing disparities in Australian schools
• Student learning and wellbeing – especially in communities experiencing significant disadvantage
• Teachers’ time, skills development and workforce shortages
• Meeting the needs of vulnerable children through a best practice approach to arts education to ensure they are well prepared to thrive in life and work in the 21^st

THE NEED:

In 2021, The UN stated that the impact of COVID-19 on schooling is a “generational catastrophe”, and there is no doubt that schools and students are still experiencing the lingering effects of the pandemic. Despite evidence that links music and arts-based programs with higher academic achievement and enhanced social and emotional wellbeing, only a quarter of Australian children have access to these programs and the specialised teachers who run them. This need is coupled with a lack of teacher training, time to plan and resource arts learning in their classroom, and wide-spread and teacher shortages.

THANK YOU:

We would like to express heartfelt thanks to ASCA and its members for your support for The Song Room to date. Please join us this year through continued support for The Song Room in partnership with ASCA.

Your support helps to:

• Improve student wellbeing: Build resilience, confidence, and social and emotional skills through rich arts experience that promote creativity, communication and cooperation
• Bridge the educational inequity gap: Provide high-quality arts learning programs that motivate children to come to school and connect them to their learning
• Build cultural connection: Empower First Nations Peoples and strengthen communities through cultural learning and connection
• Access digital education: Provide support and access to creative digital pedagogies for remote, in-person and hybrid educational environments at any time
• Support teachers and schools: Build confidence and capacity of classroom teachers to deliver arts learning through tailored, curriculum-aligned, accessible training, mentoring and resources. 

WE STAND FOR:

OUR IMPACT IN ACTION:

The Song Room’s Transformational Learning through Creativity (TLC) program brought over 400 students, teachers and school principals together from five primary schools in regional South Australia to experience music-making on a large scale.

TLC helped to transform school culture and reduce educational inequity that is often experienced in regional areas by imbedding sustainable, high-quality music and arts learning into school communities. The guiding principle for the multi-year, multi-artform program is ‘arts learning supports students and their communities to thrive.’

The Song Room's Deadly Arts program at Koondoola Primary School in Western Australia helps to engage and connect young people and their school communities with Noongar culture through rich arts experiences that promote learning, community connection and pride.

GET IN TOUCH

To learn more about The Song Room, please visit us here, or contact Clare Chihambakwe Clare@songroom.org.au; 03 9964 6963 .