Donna and Pip present at the Public School Principal's conference

Orange Principals and Educational Leaders Tap Into the Spectacular Power of Music Education
Orange school principals had way too much fun at yesterday’s School Improvement and Professional Learning Day. Director of the Orange Regional Conservatorium, Donna Riles and our Music Education Specialist, Philippa Waters treated them to a keynote address and hands-on music workshop exploring the value of Music education in the lives of all children.

“We know that the research in neuroscience reveals staggering effects of the power Music has to enhance children’s executive brain functioning by 7 IQ points and we know first-hand that Music instruction from a young age leads to happier, healthier, smarter adults. Music should not be a rich man’s subject, it should be the right of all children to develop beautiful hearts and minds.” - Donna Riles ORC

After a full morning of moving, drumming, singing, playing and listening, our schools’ director, Duncan Auld exclaimed, “I’m 75% nicer after that! I never knew when I woke up today that Brett Blaker would be teaching me to dance and that I’d be learning to improvise to Gotye.”

We sincerely thank all our Principals for diving wholeheartedly into exploring the metacognitive, therapeutic and magical value of Music education in a child’s life. Here’s hoping all our school leaders across Bathurst, Blayney, Cabonne and Orange make specialised classroom Music, instrumental tuition and cocurricular ensembles a priority in every school.

- Philippa Waters, ORC Curriculum specialist