At the end of term 3 this year, Anson Street SLSO Krissie-Lee Cartwright had a brilliant idea- what if they could get Tones and I to come as their guest singer for NAIDOC week? Armed with enthusiasm and her phone, she quickly rallied the staff and students to sing and dance to “Dance Monkey” and uploaded a video to the school’s Facebook page, and called for the singer to come and visit.

It was just a little bit of fun, a high-energy activity to get everyone through to the end of term and the students embraced the challenge with the incredible performances that Anson Street Students are well known for.

But when they returned from holidays, the staff quickly saw that their amazing video had gone viral, and so launched their Tones and I Orange/Anson Street School Facebook page and campaign to get her to visit the school. Krissy-Lee, along with Deputy Principal Jodie Pritchard not only tirelessly used social media to try and gain the singer’s attention, but they reached out to her management team who replied encouragingly, but assured the school that social media is the best way to attract the attention needed to ensure a visit is on the cards.

And a visit would mean so much for the school, who just love her vibe. She embodies the inclusive, personable, full of life spirit that students at Anson Street live every day, and the children, in particular the older ones, truly love her music. The school uses music not only instead of bells throughout the day, but as in important self-regulation tool. Anson Street is the third largest specialist educational setting in the state, and caters for students from kindergarten to year 12. And the music program is loved by all.

Stage 6 student Gypsy’s eyes light up as she talks about Tones and I: “She is just the COOLEST!” she exclaims, before explaining that she’d dance with her. “I’d do the worm obviously, and there’d be some high kicks of course”.

Melanie Meers, school principal explains that having her come to the school would be a once in a life-time opportunity for the students, as it can be challenging for children with sensory needs to attends concerts. As such, the school tries it’s hardest to find opportunities to expose their kids to experiences that they would otherwise miss out on, and they recently had Robbie Mortimer come and perform a concert at the school.

Having Tones and I attend the school would be akin to Santa visiting, which is something that everyone (even the older teenagers) love! The principal’s parting message to Tones and I is “Come to the best school in New South Wales, because you will never, ever forget the experience. You will fall in love, and your heart will be full”. We agree!