Kent Street Senior High School’s Merilyn ‘DJ’ Harvey.
Camera IconKent Street Senior High School’s Merilyn ‘DJ’ Harvey. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Kent St High swaps sirens for songs

Nadia BudihardjoSouthern Gazette

AN East Victoria Park school adds fun tunes to their daily schedule by playing songs to signal the start and end of their classes.

Kent Street Senior High School started the initiative in Semester 2 last year when a teacher heard of another school has swapped their sirens for songs.

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Corporate Services manager Merilyn Harvey then downloaded a program to schedule three weeks worth of songs.

For her role in setting up the program and scheduling the songs, she has been dubbed ‘DJ Harvey’ by staff members.

“We play nine songs a day,” she said.

“People can request songs through a note in the office or on Facebook.

“The only time the sirens will go off now is during an evacuation or lockdown.”

Ms Harvey said there was a recent influx of K-pop requests and the school has played around with themes for Valentine’s Day and Christmas.

“I played Aretha Franklin songs in the morning on the day she died,” she said.

“I’ve had a lot of queries from other managers in other schools.”

Principal Kath Ward said majority of the students had a positive feedback after they trialled the new system for a week last year.

Year 9 students Caitlyn Spindler, Brielle Bardot and Bella Edmiston said the songs made walking to class more enjoyable.

“The ones everyone can sing to has been fun, some people really get into it,” Caitlyn said.

“There has been a mix of songs, like movie soundtracks,” Bella said.