A Special Day of Music, Theatre and Creativity

Tuesday was a very special day at SKiPPS, with every student given the opportunity to enjoy a high-quality cultural experience designed especially for their age group.

Our junior students travelled to the National Theatre to see Where is the Green Sheep?, while our senior students enjoyed an energetic performance and interactive musical workshop with renowned musician and vocal adventurer Mal Webb.

Where is the Green Sheep?

Our younger students were very excited to make the short journey to St Kilda’s historic National Theatre for a live performance of Where is the Green Sheep?

Based on the much-loved picture book by Mem Fox and Judy Horacek, the production brought the familiar story to life through puppetry, music, movement and colourful visual theatre. Students encountered many of the characters they know from the book, including the blue sheep, red sheep, bath sheep and bed sheep, as the search for the elusive green sheep unfolded on stage.

For many of our younger students, this was one of their first opportunities to experience a professional production in a theatre. There is something quite magical about entering a beautiful theatre, taking a seat with friends and watching a familiar story transformed into a live performance. It was a wonderful experience that connected storytelling, literature, music and performance in a memorable way.

We were also very fortunate to have such an important cultural venue located within walking distance of our school. The National Theatre has been part of St Kilda for more than a century and today provides a home for live performances as well as its well-known ballet and drama schools. Visiting this local landmark added another special dimension to the excursion.

Music and Sound with Mal Webb

Back at school, our senior students were treated to a performance and workshop with the extraordinarily talented Mal Webb.

Mal is a singer, songwriter, beatboxer, multi-instrumentalist and vocal explorer who has performed extensively throughout Australia and internationally. His performances combine music, humour, technology and an incredible range of vocal sounds. Using techniques including beatboxing, vocal percussion, looping and overtone singing, Mal demonstrates just how much can be created using the human voice.

The performance was entertaining, surprising and highly engaging. Students saw music being built before them, with rhythms, melodies and vocal sounds recorded and layered to create complete songs. Mal’s playful approach also introduced students to some of the science behind sound, including how we use our lips, tongue, lungs and vocal cords to produce such an extraordinary variety of noises.

Following the performance, students took part in an interactive musical workshop. This gave them the opportunity to move from being audience members to active participants as they experimented with rhythm, voice, sound and musical creativity. The workshop encouraged students to listen carefully, respond as a group, try unfamiliar techniques and discover that music can be made in wonderfully inventive ways.

It was a joyful and inclusive experience. Students did not need to play an instrument or have formal musical training to participate. Instead, they were encouraged to be curious, have a go and explore the musical possibilities of the voice and body.

Made Possible by an Extraordinary Donation

Most importantly, these two whole-school experiences were made possible by an incredibly generous donation from a SKiPPS family.

The family provided funding specifically to give every student at our school access to a shared cultural activity. Their generosity meant that our junior students could experience a professional theatre production and our senior students could learn directly from an accomplished Australian musician and performer, without cost being a barrier for any child.

We are enormously grateful for this thoughtful and generous contribution to our school. It created an experience that reached every year level and gave our students the chance to enjoy, explore and participate in the performing arts together. Opportunities such as these broaden children’s experiences, spark new interests and create shared memories that extend well beyond the day itself.

We would also like to offer a very special thank you to Chantel for her tireless work in bringing both events together. Coordinating two different experiences for an entire school required an enormous amount of planning, communication and attention to detail. From liaising with performers and venues to arranging timetables, transport, supervision and all the practical details, Chantel ensured that everything ran smoothly and that each student could make the most of the opportunity.

Thank you again to our generous donor family, to Chantel, to the staff who supported the activities and, of course, to our students for participating with such enthusiasm. Tuesday was a wonderful celebration of storytelling, music, creativity and the arts across SKiPPS.