National Review of School Music Education - Murdoch Research ...

B.1 The Armidale Cluster: A collaborative community
The schools working within this collaborative network are Armidale High School, Duval High
School, Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC) Armidale, and The Armidale School (TAS). The two
high schools are state schools, each catering for 754 students from Years 7 to 12. PLC is a small
independent girls’ school with 370 students from 4 to 18 years of age. TAS is an independent
school predominantly for boys aged 5-18, although there are a small number of girls in the primary
school. Both PLC and TAS cater for day students and boarders, drawn from the local population
and more distant rural districts.
The schools are all located in the regional New England town of Armidale on the northern
tablelands of New South Wales, 563 kilometres northwest of Sydney. Although it is situated within
a rural pastoral area, a focus of the town for many years has been the University of New England
and previously, a teacher’s college. This has led to a ‘very well-educated demographic. It’s a
university town so education, arts, culture is highly valued [and] that’s reflected in the student
body’ (BM, Music teacher, Duval HS).
In addition, the presence of the tertiary institutions has attracted a relatively large and stable
number of music teachers working both within the schools and community:
There’s a lot of… people that have been in this community involved with music and music
education that have been here for a long time. I think that’s really important that there hasn’t
been this changing population of music teachers and musicians. There’s a lot of stability.
Music teachers that have been teaching in this town have retired here and they’re still here
and they’re still active in the groups in the town and I think that’s what keeps it going… as
well as the instrumental teachers that have been here and teaching for a long time. So there’s
a lot of stability in music and a lot of interest and it seems that the population are quite happy
to support it and get involved. (Music teacher, PLC)
In the past two years the musical life of the town has been enhanced by the newly developed New
England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM), the director of which has taken an active role in
supporting music education both within and outside of schools and providing further
opportunities in music education for teachers, students and the broader community: ‘I see the
Conservatorium as plugging holes’ (CA, NECOM).
Why this site was Chosen
Despite the rural location of the town, these schools in Armidale have had a lengthy reputation for
thriving music programmes which involve large numbers of children and produce excellent results,
most notably in the areas of student composition and performance. A strong contributor to this
success has been the collaboration of teachers within and between schools and the co-operative
relationship between the schools and the larger community. The Armidale Music Teachers’
Association (operating since the mid 1980s and currently comprising 20 teachers) has provided a
network of mutual teacher support through ongoing teacher interchange and professional
development activities, now organised through the Conservatorium. The community provides
studio and peripatetic teachers for instrumental and vocal tuition, but also a wide range of
performance activities, including the Armidale Youth Orchestra and choral, string and band
programmes at various levels. Of particular significance is the role of the local eisteddfod, where
students from all schools have the opportunity to perform in ensembles and to compete
individually in both composition and performance categories. The eisteddfod forms a major focus
for school music activities during the year and promotes a drive for musical excellence within the
schools.
The symbiotic relationship between teachers and schools in both state and independent sectors
and the community constitutes a model for other regional areas dealing with issues of isolation and
limits on resources.
Key observations
Armidale High School
Music in our school means everything… The music community is pretty much a
‘community’. (Female students, AHS)
FINAL REPORT 173