TASME Term 1 Newsletter, 2022

Chapter News

The Chapter Council met at the end of January to plan for this year and as always a significant topic of conversation was professional learning. We're delighted that with the support of the Tasmanian Government we are able to bring three superb presenters to Tasmania for workshops. Of particular importance to the Council, however, was the desire to reach out to pre-service and graduate teachers with tailored professional learning programs. Hence, you'll see several opportunities for younger teachers to meet with experienced colleagues to discuss various aspects of running a school music program. Please see the professional learning page for more information and thank you to the experienced teachers who are so willing to give of their expertise.

Another priority for the Council has been to continue to attract new members, especially university students. Chapter Council members Dr. Bill Baker and Claire Farrell have played a particularly important role in reaching out to and recruiting new members from this cohort, and we particularly welcome the sizeable cohort of students who joined TASME at the end of last year. Importantly, the State Council has decided to continue to offer free membership to students, something the National Executive had initiated for 2021 and has also now decided to continue until the end of 2023.

Without wanting to always be talking about money, the state Chapter's share of the profits from the National Conference were forwarded to TASME late last year. That, combined with the money from the State Government sees the Chapter in a strong financial position, something we plan to take advantage of for the benefit of members. You may notice in particular that TASME is keen to support members wishing to improve their use of Kodály, by sponsoring members wishing to undertake online courses provided by the Cuskelly College of Music. Once again, more information is available on the professional learning page.

With the advent of COVID and the move to online forms of learning, we have accrued a number of hours recordings of professional learning. We are currently in the process of preparing a site that will make the recorded material available to members. Once the relevant permissions have been obtained from participants, this site will go live.

There's been some interesting matters being pursued by National Council. A sub committee is reviewing the national website and logo, and another is seeking to renew the organisation's focus on promoting composition. I thank Andrea Marks and Jennie MacDonald respectively for their involvement in these groups.

We are very fortunate to have a diverse and highly experienced Chapter Council. Our discussions are rich and you can be assured that our priority is to continue to further music education in this state and find the best ways to support our members. Current council members are:

• Paul Radford (Chair)

• Andrea Marks (Vice Chair and Immediate Past Chair)

• Sarah Elliott (Secretary)

• Peter Stewart (Treasurer)

• Suzi Terry (Membership Co-ordinator)

• Wendy Ross (Conference Convenor and National Secretary)

• Fiona Bye

• Dr. Bill Baker

• Andrea Van Emmerik

• Jennie MacDonald

• Claire Farrell

• Hilary Morgan

Office bearers from within the Council have been meeting separately to plan in detail the matters discussed at the full Council meetings. This is proving to be a worthwhile experience and is hopefully leaving the usual General Meetings for a discussion of the big ideas. If you wish to raise any matter with a council member, please get in touch at tasmemeetings@gmail.com.