NSW Primary School Teachers to Upskill in Music Education with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Forty primary school teachers from across New South Wales have been selected to participate in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra's highly acclaimed annual teacher-training program, TunED-Up, to be held in Sydney on 10-14 January.

This intensive five-day program sees teachers participate in workshops with SSO musicians and music education specialists to learn the skills and techniques they need to confidently teach music in their classrooms.

The SSO launched TunED-Up in 2014 after it was revealed that music is not taught in the majority of NSW primary school classrooms, despite being a mandatory subject in the state's school curriculum. According to Sydney Symphony Orchestra Director of Learning and Engagement Linda Lorenza, this is because the majority of primary school teachers feel intimidated at the prospect of teaching music as the subject is frequently overlooked in Australian primary education degrees.

"There is an overwhelming amount of academic research that proves that music learning does so much to enhance children's learning and development," Ms Lorenza said. "However due to limited music training in their university studies, where some teachers receive as little as 10 hours of music training throughout their entire degree, primary classroom teachers often lack the knowledge and confidence to properly teach music to their students."

Hailing from locations as far as the outback NSW towns of Cobar, Orange and Bathurst, the next group of participating teachers were chosen from a wide pool of applicants for their passion for education, enthusiasm for bringing music to their classrooms, and proven ability to share their training with their local communities.

The next intake of teachers coincides with the release of an independent report by BYP Group that found that TunED-Up had reached more than 42,000 NSW primary school students by training 121 teachers since it launched in 2014.

The independent report by revealed that the TunED-Up program has been extremely successful in providing teachers with the skills they require to effectively implement music programs within their schools. TunED-Up participants were overwhelmingly positive about the results of the program; rating its impact on their professional development as 4.5 out of 5 on average (the average rating across professional development music programs is 3.7 out of 5). The full report conducted by specialist impact consultants BYP Group in 2016 can be accessed HERE.

TunED-Up has been made possible due to the generous support of Antoinette Albert, Anne Arcus and Terry Arcus AM, Ian and Jennifer Burton, the Darin Cooper Foundation, Ian Dickson and Reg Holloway, Drs Keith and Eileen Ong, Tony Strachan, and Susan and Isaac Wakil.

TunED-Up forms part of the SSO's award-winning education program and is accredited to the National Professional Standards through BOSTES. For further information on TunED-Up, visit: http://www.sydneysymphony.com/education/for-schools-teachers/professional-learning-workshops/tuned-up!-scholarships.aspx

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