Our choirs have the opportunity to perform in the local community, including care homes and hospital visits to raise money for local charities. Keyboard is an opportunity for KS3 students to rehearse their music from lessons, or to choose their own music to learn. We also have an instrumental group and Theory Club which is aimed at GCSE students and those intending to opt in Year 9. We have Junior Choir for Year 7 and 8, Senior for Year 9 – 13 and Chamber Choir for those in Junior and Senior Choir who wish to audition. Students use Google Classroom to complete formal assignments and store performances and compositions.Įxtra-curricular activities are a huge part of the Music Department, and students are encouraged to participate and develop their confidence and musical skills further. Students are always encouraged to reflect on how they could improve upon their practical work.Īt KS4 and KS5, students are encouraged to have peripatetic lessons, with the school fully subsidising lessons for A Level and BTEC students. This allows for an evaluation of the unit’s content and the chance to develop or alter any of the information for future classes. Upon completion of each topic, students undertake a performance or composition assessment. In year 9, students develop their ensemble skills through a Musical Futures style performance and composition project. Listening and appraising, performance and composition skills are developed throughout these units in Year 8, and tasks are sequenced to challenge students. As well as understanding the music, it is key that students understand the contextual background and what music means to different cultures.
In Year 8, students study how these musical elements are used in a variety of different musical styles from around the world. These skills are then combined in the form of composition of melody and harmony. Once mastered, harmony is introduced through the study of chords. Keyboard skills are combined with the study of melody, and students rehearse a variety of scales and melodies on the keyboards. These skills enable students to then rehearse and perform this notation. Our subsequent units introduce music notation, initially in it’s rhythmic form, followed by pitch staff notation. In Year 7, we begin with the Elements of Music, including identifying and demonstrating them. Our Year 7 students join Weatherhead with varied musical experiences from primary school, ranging from singing in assemblies and school plays, to whole class lessons on an instrument like cornet or ukulele. We aim to develop a love and appreciation of music which accompanies our students into adulthood. The objective of this crucial mastery is to facilitate the further study of Music, providing students with the conviction to advance through their school life. The purpose of this is to embed a comprehensive skills set that is rooted in the knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of music. We aim to ensure all students have access to musical styles, instruments, and notation, from all over the world. All of these students have the opportunity to gain the ‘Weatherhead Qualification’ in their instrument/voice. We offer all students the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument or sing through our peripatetic programme, with lessons heavily subsidised. Practical skills are developed on percussion instruments, keyboards and ukuleles, singing and through music technology. Lessons then go on to develop listening and appraising skills, as well as performance and composition skills. Each lesson at KS3 begins with our Composer of the Week, enabling students to listen to and appreciate some of our great Western Classical composers and their works. Our teachers aim to ignite a musical spark in our students through the study of a wide range of musical styles. Our knowledge rich curriculum at KS3 is sequenced to allow students to master the key musical elements and listening skills, before combining them with practical musicianship skills to create a holistic musical experience. At Weatherhead, the Music department strongly believes in the importance of a high quality music education for all students, regardless of their background or starting point.
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