Mentoring Early Intervention – Creative Arts and Music in Geelong,
Victoria
Four Geelong Early Learning Centres, William Hovell Preschool,
Whittington War Memorial Kindergarten, Portarlington Primary School and
the Breakwater Preschool, had particularly successful Song Room workshop
programs in 2009, with increased participation from the children, and
strong support and enthusiasm from the classroom teachers, under the
very successful direction of three Geelong based teaching artists.
At the end of the program it was felt that there was potential for The
Song Room to expand on the work already done, with the aim of developing
the capacity in these centres to encourage more local families to
access preschool and early learning services. An additional program was
offered to the schools and kindergartens in the form of another Semester
of mentoring in 2010, where the classroom teachers would gradually take
on the teaching of an arts program in their schools.
This will be facilitated by as the Song Room’s Community Liaison Officer
for the program, and will culminate in a Professional Development Day
for the Geelong region for all associated members. This would ensure
that the wider community would be able to benefit from the expertise of
the Teaching Artists, and will promote the importance of access to the
creative arts in the early years. There will also be an opportunity for a
performance by the children, directed by their classroom teachers
during this PD day.
Teaching Artists
Lucy Jones is a performing artist with over 20 years experience. After
graduating from WAAPA, Lucy created and performed in award-winning music
theatre shows for the Melbourne Fringe, and composed music for
Melbourne Workers Theatre, Postcard Productions, and various short
films. She has taught music to Montessori pre-schoolers, and has run
music programs in primary schools for The Song Room for many years. Lucy
also runs workshops for the Festival of Healthy Living in the Geelong
region.
Lisa Singline is a community based artist and musician. As a musician
she works in a variety of singing contexts with adults and children. As
an artist she produces her own unique brand of jewellery ‘glassy
designs’. Lisa strongly believes that everyone can sing, and enjoys
engaging singers from all walks of life and levels of experience. She
currently leads a number of community singing groups with “Acabellas”.
Sue Hindle is a community-minded artist with a strong philosophy of
inclusiveness in a positive, nurturing environment. She is an artist who
produces painting and handcrafted artwork for children, as well as a
vocal performer, singing facilitator and singing teacher. She is based
in Geelong, and has worked for local schools, galleries, community
organisations and government service providers, as well as performing
herself in most of the major venues in the Melbourne and Geelong area.
Workshops Aim: The overall aim in introducing TSR programs to the early
learning centres was to provide a safe space in which the children could
explore creative play, and to encourage the development of social
skills. Specifically, the three artists’ aims were to give the children
an opportunity to develop their musical awareness, and to offer a
positive introduction to music.
The mentoring program will ultimately see the classroom teachers taking a
more pro active role in the arts classes, with them being shown how to
direct vocal warm-ups, conduct choirs, direct drumming groups and devise
lesson plans for themselves. The Whittington School is also recording
their new choir and the “Drumbeat” students for the local Whittington
Flame Festival on 19th March.
Response from kindergartens and community: Informal feedback received
from the schools has been extremely positive, with all staff and
Principals of the four schools participating in the programs.
Sharon, the classroom teacher at William Hovell, has highlighted the
positive effect that Lucy’s program is having on her teaching, and is
looking forward to developing her skills so that she can continue to
offer creative arts experiences to the children at her centre. TSR has
already developed the resources in the kindergarten, having donated a
class set of claves, and a set of 24 Ukeles to the Portartlington
Primary School.
“The music program has had a very positive effect on (the additional
needs) students, and is allowing them to participate at the same level
as the other kids.”
Teacher, William Hovell Preschool
 Children in The
Song Room’s Geelong programs enjoy an introduction to musical
instruments through ukuleles.
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