The Song Room Web Site

New Moves in education for Refugee and Migrant Children

As part of Refugee Week 2011, The Song Room celebrated the achievements of our recently arrived migrants and refugees with performances from over 400 children at schools participating in The Song Room workshop programs – including Western English Language School, Noble Park English Language School, Collingwood English Language School, Bethal, and Collingwood English Language School Upfield.

The celebration heralded the launch of a significant new research report, New Moves, that was officially launched on the 21st June at Federation Square, Melbourne.

Undertaken by Victoria University’s Associate Professor Michele Grossman and Associate Professor Christopher Sonn, New Moves demonstrates clear positive impacts of The Song Room’s arts programs for refugee background young people.

“We found that newly arrived refugee young people respond particularly well to these kinds of activities for a variety of reasons,” Associate Professor Grossman said. “Singing, dancing and story-telling are universal art forms which allow young refugee people from diverse backgrounds to express themselves more freely than they can through conventional studies.”

“In the classroom setting these activities provide a ready means for young refugees to have fun, and to form strong relationships with their peers and with their teachers, which in turn help them settle in at school and in the community” she said. 

The performances were varied (hip hop, drumming, singing and dance) and all very moving, with reports that some of these children had not even seen a tram before, let alone perform with students from other schools in such a luxurious and iconic venue.