TunED-Up will provide primary level teachers with better skills for the teaching of music.

A recent study conducted by the University of New South Wales and the Music Council of Australia has revealed that music education at NSW primary school level is being negatively impacted because teachers feel they do not receive adequate training in the subject. Music was also identified as the subject that causes teachers the most stress. Despite being a mandatory subject in the NSW primary school curriculum, teacher training degrees in primary education only devote between 10 and 17 hours in total to music teaching, leaving many teachers feeling unequipped to effectively teach the subject to their students.

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has now launched an initiative it hopes will improve training in music teaching in NSW. TunED-Up is a new five-day course which aims to provide teachers with the skills, techniques and insights they need to confidently teach music.

The programme was piloted last year with 25 teachers from across NSW taking the course, and following the success of this initial pilot the number of teachers signed up to participate in 2015 has doubled to 50. Each of these teachers has received a special Sydney Symphony Orchestra scholarship which covers accommodation, travel and other overheads, meaning the course is as accessible to teachers from rural or remote communities as it is to those based closer to the State Capital.

“University studies have shown that participation in music learning does so much to enhance the cognitive, physical and social development of a child,” SSO Director of Learning and Engagement Kim Waldock shares. “We estimate that at least 8000 children benefited directly and indirectly from TunED-Up in 2014, and with our expanded intake this year we expect that number to double.”

Further details on the TunED-Up programme can be found on the Sydney Symphony Website.