Boulder Primary School alive with the sound of music thanks to hidden gem

Music is filling the halls of Boulder Primary School as students rejoice over a new music teacher who was sitting right under their noses the whole time. Fulu Sheck had been working as an education assistant at the school for eight years and regularly stepped up to take classes, showing her natural teaching skills and love of the job. Ms Sheck said she had lost her passion for teaching when she became a stay-at-home mum but being an education assistant had reignited a love for teaching children. “I had started my teaching degree and then I became a mum and never went back to it, so I’ve started it again,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher — that was my passion. “I never saw myself becoming a music teacher but because I grew up with music and dance, when they said music teacher I was like ‘yes, dream come true’. “Teaching Year 1 and 2 last year was crazy but I loved it, and becoming a music teacher is the dream job, really.” Deputy principal Ash Ferguson said Ms Sheck had already made a huge difference in the school, with many students saying music was now their favourite class. “You just need to walk into one of her lessons to see (the passion for music) — all the kids are engaged,” he said. “At the moment, I think they’ve just worked with triangles, but for them, it is the greatest thing they’ve ever done.” Mr Ferguson said Ms Sheck stepped up for a classroom teaching role in the middle of 2022 when the school helped her become a registered teacher after noticing her ability. “We know her passion is with music and we know the importance of music teachers and music teaching so we thought we would just put the two together and put her in music,” he said. Ms Sheck said teaching music was important so students could understand and engage with it at a young age. “It teaches students a lot of things that we can’t teach in the classroom — confidence, discovering their talents — and I think that’s important, which is why music is important, because it’s a universal language,” she said. “And it’s sad when it’s not taught in primary schools because those kids aren’t introduced to music at an early age, when I feel they should be.” She told the Kalgoorlie Miner helping students discover music, and their talents, was a role she took seriously. “I’m just grateful that the admin team has implemented it (music classes) this year because I think it’s important for students to be introduced to the world of music,” Ms Sheck said. “We don’t even know if these kids in these classes are musically talented, so for me I take my role seriously to help them discover, to introduce the music industry through singing, dance and instruments. “You could be teaching musicians and pop stars or country singers, and not know it. It’s just about giving them that platform to express themselves.” Mr Ferguson said the school had had a talented music teacher some years ago but following his promotion into a leadership role, the search had been on for a new one. He told the Miner they were lucky Ms Sheck was right under their noses.