It really is a lovely time of the year in the Music Department.

Senior students completing Unit 2 Music Performance have given their recitals and we are really excited about the development and maturity that has occurred in the girls’ playing this year, and the promise of the year to come.

Congratulations also to the girls who performed at the Years 7 and 8 Recital and the Barbreck Recital this week. We will be able to provide you a full account of the afternoon in the next edition of Music Notes.

PFA Christmas Fair

Families are reminded that there will be lovely music at the annual PFA Christmas Fair on Friday 18 November. Student performers are invited to wear ‘performance blacks’ with some festive touches!

Music Curriculum

I was recently able to attend an information session, hosted by AMUSE (Association of Music Educators) with regard to the new Victorian Music Curriculum. I was very pleased (but not surprised) that we are offering a very high level of Music Education at St Catherine’s and we are compliant with the new syllabus.

Good Music programs cannot exist without support from all areas of a school. We are so lucky that our community supports what we do, and understands the benefits of Music to the individual, and the School as a whole.

Mention was made of the Draft Music Education Guide, currently under development by VCAA in response to one of the 17 recommendations adopted by the Victorian Government as a result of the 2013 Parliamentary Review into Music Education. When completed, the Music Education Guide (MEG) will provide guidance to teachers, principals and schools regarding how to develop an appropriate and successful Music program.

It is worthwhile providing our community with some of the statements from the new curriculum which is to be implemented across the State in 2017.

The Rationale behind Music in the curriculum as stated in the new Victorian Curriculum is:

Music is uniquely an aural art form. The essential nature of music abstract. Music encompasses existing sounds that are selected and shaped; new sounds created by composers and performers, and the placement of sounds in time and space. Composers, performers and listeners perceive these sounds in time and space.

Music exists distinctively in every culture and is a basic expression of human experience. Students’ active participation in music fosters understanding of other times, places, cultures and contexts. Through continuous and sequential music learning, students listen to, compose and perform with increasing depth and complexity. Through performing, composing and listening with intent to music, students have access to knowledge, skills and understanding, which can be gained in no other way. Learning in music is aurally based and can be understood without any recourse to notation. Learning to read and write music in traditional and graphic forms enables students to access a wide range of music as independent learners.

2017 Performing Arts Handbook

The 2017 Performing Arts Handbook is now available at mystcatherines. This Handbook includes a great deal of important information including the schedule of fees for 2017 and enrolment and cancellation policies. I encourage all students and parents involved in the Performing Arts for 2017 to read through the Handbook.

Please feel free to contact the Music Administrator on 9828 3014 or email music@stcatherines.net.au with any queries.

Dates – Term 4

• PFA Christmas Fair – Friday 18 November
• Years 7 and 8 Awards Assembly – Monday 28 November – Dorothy Pizzey Hall
• House Arts Performance – Tuesday 6 December – Dorothy Pizzey Hall
• Senior School Carol Service – Wednesday 7 December – Toorak Uniting Church