Towards the end of Term 1, we were unfortunately hit with a burst hot water system from the canteen area which filled our entire music and drama departments with about 6 inches of water. Everything from our classrooms, the practice rooms, and the theatre, was affected. Miraculously due to the efforts of our maintenance team (and some instrument saving guitar stands), we came out of the flood with only a couple of power boards being damaged.

To their credit, our boys rolled with the punches and adjusted quite well to being relocated in the ERC foyer for a few weeks. Lessons were still able to take place (minus a few instruments), through our online theory and composition lessons. Little did we know that less than a couple of weeks later we would be again asked to go into online lessons due to the global pandemic. Six weeks and a holiday break certainly tested our ability to communicate and continue our music courses for all year groups. Once again, our students stood up and were able to embrace the technology and even demonstrated newfound skills in recording and arranging their own individual performances. Our HSC class has also barely skipped a beat in their journey toward another successful year for our faculty. This is a very stressful year at the best of times, so to come out the latter end of it with continued focus and rigour is a testimony to their strength of character as a group. We wish them the very best of luck for their upcoming trials and exams.

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The efforts and resilience of our music faculty cannot be overemphasised, the creativity and commitment to learning was displayed in an extraordinary manner. Prior to these obstacles we were well into the rehearsal of a combined musical with St Joseph’s College, ‘Clash at Titan High’. This musical has obviously had to be re-imagined and will now take place in Week 5 of Term 1 2021, either as a filmed event or a live performance dependent on the restrictions we face at this future time. I would like to applaud the continued dedication of our show director, Jo Emmett, who together with our Drama Coordinator, Jodie Connor and Sue Lockwood from St Joseph’s, have been providing Zoom rehearsals for the actors involved. Our musicians are also commencing small group rehearsals to attempt to keep moving forward to what should be a wonderful show.

Finally, I would like to thank our parent body for their patience and assistance with the challenges which have come our way. The messages of support and offers of assistance have been truly heartening. Let’s hope the rest of this year is a little smoother so we can gradually move back to some form of routine and familiarity in our learning.

The following video is a snapshot of some of the amazing efforts and resourcefulness of our talented music students.