Page 9 - Year in Review 2020

PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
COLLABORATION AND CONNECTION
Teaching Artist Programs | Maintaining Continuous Learning
From devastating bushfires in January to the challenges of COVID-19, 2020 was a demanding year. COVID-19 had a severe impact on the education sector, threatening students’ learning and impacting their well-being.
The Song Room team was on the front foot, adapting our approach in response to continually changing State regulations, emergent outbreaks and learning- from-home measures. We quickly developed strong COVID-safe policies and guidelines to ensure that Teaching Artists were able to teach flexibly through blended learning approaches throughout the year.
When 2020 commenced 178 programs were scheduled for in-school delivery. When the pandemic hit we assessed the risk and worked closely with our schools to provide solutions to ease the stress and maintain student connection and learning.
At the conclusion of the year, 173 programs were successfully delivered to 13,583 students using a blended approach that included face-to face lessons, pre-recorded videos, online activities and ‘take
home’ worksheets.
We provided tailored support to almost 500 teachers including teacher mentoring, advice on producing and sourcing online and video lessons, live online mentoring, and solutions to help deal with the
overwhelming workload and new digital skills that teachers had to quickly master in 2020.
Programs delivered in remote and regional Australia grew by 59% in 2020 with over 80 programs being delivered in Northern Territory, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.
Teaching Artists became digital experts to ensure the community remained connected. Virtual activities were designed to include teachers, students and parents and by the end of the year our programs produced hundreds of video lessons, 3 virtual choirs, a digital art gallery, animations, a virtual dance performance, and pre-recorded African and bucket-drum workshops for families.
Our Teaching Artists turned a challenge into an accomplishment. They used the Arts to set students up in this new world. They partnered with schools to help them navigate the new learning environment, assisted students and teachers to return to the classroom when the time came, and celebrated their many achievements throughout the year.
This year we have seen the power of the Arts to provide hope and to connect people in a time of crisis.
LIVERPOOL PRIMARY SCHOOL NSW
IMAGE: DEANNA GERLACH
THE SONG ROOM:
2020 YEAR IN REVIEW 9