Kolbe Catholic College is excited to become one of Western Australia’s first Champion Schools. Music teachers Nick Fielding and Helen Metcalfe facilitate the program and deliver an inclusive and engaging program for all music students, assisted by a team of visiting instrumental teachers.

Kolbe Catholic College is a 7-12 school of 1100 students situated in the City of Rockingham approximately 50km south of Perth CBD. In recent years the music program has grown in size with two elective classes in all year groups from 7 - 9. Participation in all extra-curricular activities increases each year - a variety of events throughout such as Music Camp, Music Night and Bands on the Avenue, showcase students of all ages and levels making music.

Kolbe Catholic College is a 1-to-1 iPad school, and the Musical Futures approach reinforces the ethos of 21st-century learning that the College espouses. Students are given opportunities to create their own music in practical contexts, and make use of technology to collaborate and share their work. They explore a range of instrumental, vocal and technological techniques with a view to fostering a lifelong engagement with music extending well beyond their time at the College.

Our Vision 

We aim to make music accessible to everyone in the school, both inside and outside the classroom. It is important to us that students see us, their teachers, as active musicians and it is very normal to find teachers learning instruments alongside the students. We recognise that as teachers we have a number of roles to fulfil and one of those is to model how to learn. A musical journey should be a constantly evolving activity and we hope to enable students to take on roles not only as performers, but as creators, composers, arrangers, sound engineers, recording engineers and any other role that contributes to a musical event. We encourage students to take ownership of their own learning and strive to provide them with an environment where they can take creative risks and be themselves. 

Through Musical Futures, we hope to support our local primary schools, and other high schools in the Rockingham area, in promoting a similar music culture in their communities. We look forward to hosting workshops, professional development sessions and teacher observations at Kolbe Catholic College.