10 August 2018

By James Le Fevre, former Arts Learning Leader and Director of Bands, Our Lady of Sion College, Box Hill.

Music plays an active role in the lives of students at Our Lady of Sion College, Box Hill, with some 400 students participating in lessons and ensembles on a weekly basis. Providing opportunities to foster students’ sense of self within the community is especially important for Year 7 students as they begin their studies at the college.

The Sion First Band is a new initiative for 2018. It invites Year 6 students bound for Our Lady of Sion College in 2019 to participate in instrumental music lessons and ensemble rehearsals at the college. The program aims to enhance elements of the Year 7 Transition Program and to strengthen ties with our community, particularly our neighbouring parishes.

Students who come to the college with experience in music engage with their studies to a fuller extent, have a noticeable impact on the progress of their peers, and are active voices for the value of music in their lives. Their disposition appears infectious.

The Sion First Band now caters for 23 Year 6 students travelling from 13 different primary schools to Our Lady of Sion College. The girls participate in a combination of small-group instrument tuition, large ensemble rehearsals, performances and get-to-know-you games between 4.30 pm and 6.00 pm every Wednesday.

Learning in a group facilitates collaboration, social development and the formation of relationships. A number of staff members teach small groups trumpet, trombone, percussion, flute and clarinet, and one violin.

Parents frequently comment on their daughter’s excitement for Wednesday afternoons with one student all but refusing to attend Year 6 Camp in Canberra because it meant missing a week of Sion First Band.

Our observations point to highly engaged learners, who seem comfortable singing, playing, dancing and laughing in any surroundings. They demonstrate great pride in their new school and frequently accept invitations to support our senior musicians from the audience.

This is mutually beneficial with the younger girls in awe of the older girls, who in turn receive a boost of confidence from the gushing compliments of their young counterparts.