Senator the Hon Scott Ryan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, welcomed 850 ACT students to Parliament House as part of Australia’s largest school sing-a-long, the 2014 national celebration for Music: Count Us In.
The ACT school students were joined by 500,000 students from around Australia who participated in the live-streamed event. Together, the students sang Paint You a Song, which was written especially for the occasion.
“I congratulate the songwriters, the vocalists and the instrumentalists who have worked hard to put together this year’s song,” Senator Ryan said.
“Research indicates that music education is associated with improvements in literacy, numeracy, school attendance and confidence.”
Five students from around Australia were selected to write this year’s song with mentor, Harry James Angus from The Cat Empire and Music: Count Us In programme ambassador, John Foreman.
The students chosen were Emily Claxton (Eden Marine High School, NSW), Angus Gill (St Columba Anglican School, NSW), Kaelyn Girao (The Friends’ School, TAS), Winina Kennedy (Immanuel College, SA), and Nathan Wendt (John Paul College, NSW).
Students from Newtown High School of the Performing Arts performed on the recording.
Music: Count Us In is an initiative of Music Australia. It aims to increase students’ appreciation of music and promote music education in schools. It provides professional support for teachers leading up to the event, including online workshops on song writing skills for senior primary and high school teachers.
The programme has been allocated $2.3 million in Australian Government funding between 2012-2015.