Improving student attendance, learning and wellbeing

Through your donations, The Song Room is helping children at Whittington Primary School engage, socialise and learn through their participation in a 12 month music and performing arts program.

With a $30,000 grant from the Give Where You Live Foundation, The Song Room aims to improve participating students’ attendance, learning outcomes and socio-emotional wellbeing.

Set in the heart of the Whittington community, Whittington Primary School encompasses a broad mix of families from a wide range of backgrounds; 12% are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent and 6% are from CALD families where English is a second language.

Whittington Primary has been identified as a school that scores high on the ICSEA scale for socio-economic and educational disadvantage with 75% of the students (against the Australian average of 25%) falling into the most disadvantaged category of the scale, and 19% in the second most disadvantaged category.

Working with students from Foundation to Year 6, the main goal of The Song Room program is to encourage student engagement in learning through participation in singing and music, promoting personal expression, communication and confidence, while enhancing fundamental musical abilities and co-ordination of movement through learning and performing a repertoire of songs.

The introduction of a formal singing program has been a big success. Children who were reluctant at the start are now happy to sing in front of an audience and share their new found talents with others. When invited to join a school choir, there was a resoundingly positive response from children Prep to Grade 6. Children in our community do not often have these opportunities and it has been lovely to hear their positive feedback.”