St Peter Claver College offers opportunities for students in both curricular and extra-curricular Music. A full Instrumental Music Program with tuition is available. Students are able to participate in College Ensembles and will have the opportunity to engage in live performances throughout the year. If you would like to enrol your child in the Instrumental Music Program please complete this form.
Why Study Music
The benefits derived from studying Music are extensive and well documented. The Sydney Morning Herald Reports that, “Two decades of frenzied research has now found that Music Education grows, hones and permanently improves neural networks like no other activity. Children who undertake formal, ongoing musical education have significantly higher levels of cognitive capacity, specifically in their language acquisition and numerical problem solving skills. They also continue in education for longer, reverse the cognitive issues related to disadvantage and earn and contribute more on average across their lifetime.”
Music can be the foundations on which our students’ successes, previously unimagined, can be achieved. Dr Richard Letts, Executive Director of the Music Council of Australia, states that, “If a person is engaged in making music, the brain will grow to support the activity as it would for any activity - but in the case of music it appears other abilities also increase. The consequence is that children who study music have an accelerated learning in other academic subjects.”
In Australian schools, Music students consistently show significantly higher grades than the general student population. Music is one of the few activities that activates, stimulates and uses the entire brain. It is well known that Music assists in a child’s development and should be an essential component of a student’s education. Many students find Music calming and it can inspire their outlook on the total school experience.
Music has the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich all students, exciting the imagination and encouraging students to reach their creative and expressive potential. Skills and techniques developed through participation in music learning allow students to manipulate, express and share sound as listeners, composers and performers. Music learning has a significant impact on the cognitive, affective, motor, social and personal competencies of students.
As independent learners, students integrate listening, performing and composing activities. These activities, developed sequentially, enhance their capacity to perceive and understand music. As students progress through studying Music, they learn to value and appreciate the power of music to transform the heart, soul, mind and spirit of the individual. In this way, students develop an aesthetic appreciation and enjoyment of music.
The Washington Post reports that one of the largest scientific studies into Music's effect on the brain has found something striking: Musical training doesn't just affect your musical ability - it provides tremendous benefits to children's emotional and behavioural maturation. “What we found was the more a child trained on an instrument, it accelerated cortical organization in attention skill, anxiety management and emotional control.” James Hudziak, M.D.
The study found increased thickness in parts of the brain responsible for executive functioning, which includes working memory, attentional control and organizational skills. In short, music actually helps students become more well-rounded. Hudziak's research is an important addition to the field because it shows that music helps us become better people, too. One thing is clear: Learning music is one of the best things a person can do.