Elizabeth SCOTT

Hi Liz. You’ve been a music teacher in Bellingen for a number of years, where does your love of music stem from?

During my childhood we sang around the piano with my Grandma playing. My grandfather had a great voice and sang harmonies and inspired us children! We sang hymns in church and learnt to harmonise naturally. As siblings we sang together for fun and were inspired by the pop and folk musicians from the 60’s and 70’s.

My mother played piano for our small country school choir, just out of Tamworth, and in high school we had excellent music teachers, more choirs, musicals and orchestras to take part in. Dad believed that encouraging us to have lessons on our preferred instrument was an investment in our future and he wasn’t wrong!

My parents were farmers and made sacrifices to keep us heavily involved in music and they were always incredibly encouraging.

When I was 13 years old the Suzuki Method reached Australia and I found learning the violin so much more fun as there were group lessons and Graduation Levels, rather than exams. My teacher exchanged with a Japanese teacher, and I was fortunate to have excellent teaching to prepare me for my HSC performance.

My Grandmother left us a little money that was to be used for “Education” and I travelled to Japan and had lessons with Dr Shinichi Suzuki for 3 months to kick off my violin teaching career using this method.

You must have passed that passion on to your kids, as two have pursued music careers. Can you tell us a bit about what they’re up to?

David, Will and Esther all learnt the violin initially from a very young age. Dave wished to play saxophone at 10yrs, and Will switched to learning Classical Guitar at around 14 yrs of age. He proceeded on to the Sydney Conservatorium where he also explored Jazz and Flamenco styles of Guitar playing. Esther continued to learn Violin and has a Jazz Performance Degree from Monash University in

Melbourne. Dave went on to study engineering at UTS and the younger two have continued with careers in music. They are presently singing and playing with an assortment of bands and have a glorious Duo called Gimme Gimme which last week won a prize with one of their songs. The prize includes a review of their band in Rolling Stone Magazine.

Teaching is something that you could say runs in your blood too! What made you want to become a teacher?

My great grandfather was a teacher in the Northern Rivers. My aunts, cousins, brother and sister are all teachers.

Teaching is a noble profession, and it is a privilege to be part of so many children’s lives. All children have so much potential, and teachers endeavour to help them realise this. When a teacher is passionate about their subject, students engage and are likely to continue in the field that really fired them up.

You have recently retired from Bellingen

Public School, can you tell us a bit about your time there and some of your favourite memories?

I have worked as a Specialist Music Teacher at Bellingen Public school for 20 years. My favourite thing is to encourage and build singing skills in children as it is a free instrument that they carry around forever. Engaging in singing releases endorphins and you feel happy! Brains love melody and patterns; vocabulary and general knowledge is enhanced through song and there is so much humour in children’s songs that makes them laugh.

Singing from Kinder to Year 6 has contributed to children’s wellbeing and to a happy atmosphere at our school for many years. Building the skills early has meant that our Stage 3 Musicals and the Stage 3 Choir reached a high standard and managed beautiful harmonies. I have taken over 400 children to sing in the Opera House from Bellingen Public School which is something to be proud of as those children will always remember such an occasion with joy and a great sense of self.

Why do you feel music is something that is so important for kids to learn at school?

As Music Coordinator at Bellingen Public School, I worked alongside several devoted peripatetic music teachers that visited the school each week to teach their instrument. Learning an instrument has an incredible effect on your life and if you can budget to include this in your child’s life, you will be justly rewarded. It not only wires the brain and enhances all learning, but it gives children another form of communication and way of expressing what is in their hearts.

Playing in ensembles and bands is fun and challenging and children have like minded peers to hang out with.

With a bunch of budding musicians, Annie Phelan and I began the Bellingen Youth Orchestra in 2007 and have had 15 years of supreme effort and fun, along with a dedicated committee of parents, giving students fantastic orchestral experiences.

You have also been heavily involved in the Sustainable Schools Movement at Bello, can you tell us a bit about how it works and why you got involved?

At BPS Vivien Evans and I ran Garden Club and imparted our love of gardening and enthusiasm for growing our own food, to many children. Our keenness to reduce landfill and improve soils had children composting and feeding worms with all the food scraps from ‘Fruito’ and lunches. The worm farms have converted these scraps to nutrient rich vermi-compost which is used around seedlings for a great start. Lawn clippings, weeds, cardboard and shredded paper are also broken down in compost heaps which students’ layer, turn, record the temperature of, and top veggie beds with the finished product. Our school is part of the Sustainable Schools Movement and the Compost Revolution which encourages such effective waste management.

Since retiring from school, you have decided to start a new venture teaching people how to compost successfully. How did this idea come about?

Sadly, arthritis creeping in has bent my fingers and I play notes out of tune on my violin, which you can imagine is soul destroying. I decided I must change tack and concentrate on that part of life that excites me as much as teaching music, which is caring for our environment.

I became a huge fan of composting as my first husband was an agronomist and shared the secrets of soil microbes and their habits with me! It is my passion.

I am excited about my new direction which will involve consulting with interested households and composters. Many of us have taken the plunge and bought compost bins for our food and garden waste, only to be disappointed with the pile of unsightly sludge.

My business involves troubleshooting and assisting successful composting. My business name will be ‘Compost Whisperer’ and I am launching it soon.

I will also be demonstrating with Coff’s Midwaste and for interested teachers through ‘Sustainable Schools’.