Students from Challis Community Primary School in Western Australia will continue to reap the benefits from their time on ABC TV’s Don’t Stop the Music when they enter high school. A documentary that followed a group of Year Four students at Challis as they embarked on a new music education program with instruments donated by the community, it also saw the creation of a national instrument donation campaign for use in similar programs. Over 8000 instruments were donated, with the documentary credited for shining a light on the transformative effects of music education in primary schools.

Armadale Senior High School students. Photo supplied

Students from Challis will now have the opportunity to further their music education as secondary students at Armadale Senior High School, which has established a new Year Seven concert band program with the support of Healthway and Musica Viva. Currently, 27 students are learning either trumpet, trombone, saxophone, clarinet or percussion in an ensemble format during class time, as well as receiving extra group lessons with instrumental tutors.

“Learning an instrument through ensemble-based classes is a not a technique used widely, with only a handful of schools in Western Australia having...