Music
Music Department Intent
As you arrive in the music department from the top of the stairs, a quote from Professor Graham Welch from the UCL Institute of Education greets you in a floor to ceiling graphic that declares: “We are all musical, we just need the opportunity”. The curriculum intent for music is simply the realisation and application of this maxim, and can be summed up as follows:
The curriculum for music assumes the inherent musicality of every child and primarily seeks to train children to explore and recognise this too, in themselves and others.
…or to put it in a more succinct, student-centred form:
You are musical. Let’s prove it.
Key Stage 3
Music is taught in a purpose-built classroom. There is a wide selection of electric bass guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, keyboards, pianos, a range of percussion and two drum kits.
Instrumental lessons are also available from our team of visiting peripatetic teachers. Instruments covered include:
- Drum kit and percussion
- Guitar and electric bass
- Saxophone, flute, clarinet
- Violin, cello
- Piano and voice
- Brass (including trumpet and cornet)
What do students study?
Music is taught as part of the Core Curriculum at Key Stage 3. Every student in Years 7, 8 and 9 has a one-hour lesson per week. High standards of work are expected and students develop self-awareness and self-confidence in an environment where success is recognised and valued.
At KS3 lessons are heavily practical and involve a variety of stimulus material. All topics include Performing, Composing, Listening and commenting on Music. Lessons are delivered using the various resources available. All students develop performance skills using voice, Guitar, Keyboard and Percussion.
In Year 7 we start by learning that we are all musical and we explore different ways of expressing this. We look at the use of voice and accompany ourselves with the ukulele as we move towards learning a Christmas song. In our second term we build on these successes by exploring ways music is written down and combine our knowledge of notation with some basic keyboard skills in order to teach independently work out how to play basic pieces on the keyboard. Finally, we finish year 7 with a whole class instrumental project and a Music ICT project to create a summer dance hit.
In Year 8 we develop our fledgling music ICT skills yet further by studying how to actually remix music using audio stems and more advanced MIDI editing tools in Studio One our VST application, finally remixing a famous Christmas number 1 single. In the Spring we study Mercy, Mercy, Mercy in a project that was made and resourced in collaboration with Mark Philips, previously the music lead for Ofsted. In it we learn about instrumentation, chords and ensemble skills as well as playing melodies and melodic improvisation. We close off the second year with self-directed study where students pick and resource rehearsals for a song of their own choosing.
In Year 9 we start with a focus on composition, looking at film music, analysing and composing music for different genres of film, finally ending the term by writing music for a Christmas advert for a department store. In the Spring Term we gather all our music making acumen together and compose and produce our own songs. We finish the end of key stage 3 with a mirror image of the year 7 project, looking at both a whole class instrumental and a music ICT project.
How are students assessed?
In keeping with our KS4 lessons, assessment is continual rather than terminal and is a teacher-based judgement of a student’s confidence and ability in music based on practical outcomes.
Key Stage 4
WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?
EDUQAS Level 1/2 Vocational Awards (Technical Awards) provide learners with opportunities to study any of the performing arts alongside other qualifications as part of a broad programme of study at KS4. They are primarily designed for learners aged 14-16 and offer an experience that focuses on applied learning, i.e., acquiring and applying knowledge, skills and understanding through purposeful tasks set in sector or subject contexts that have many of the characteristics of real work.
Prerequisites for the course
- A passion for performance (drama, choreography, composition or music technology) or a passion for production (costume design, lighting design, sound design, make-up and hair design, set design).
- A motivation to extend your knowledge and experience of performing arts
​EXAM BOARD, COURSE CONTENT & ASSESSMENT DETAILS
We will be studying Performing Arts Technical Award (like a BTEC) from EDUQAS.
All of the units can be completed using any of the performance disciplines or any of the production disciplines:
All of the units can be completed using any of the performance disciplines or any of the production disciplines:
Performance Disciplines: drama, choreography, composition or music technology
Production Disciplines: costume design, lighting design, sound design, make-up and hair design, set design
Unit 1 focusses on study of professional practitioners and recreation of their work.
Unit 2 focusses on creating and reviewing new and original work that responds to a commercial, creative brief.
Unit 3 focusses on developing and a creative response to a commercial brief as well as selling and pitching it to investors, just like the reality of working in the creative industries.
WHAT CAN THIS COURSE LEAD TO POST 16?
Any post 16 qualification with a link to any of the performing arts.
FOR WHAT CAREERS WILL THIS COURSE BE USEFUL?
There are many careers where the skills learned through studying performing arts can be applied;
Ability to work with others (ensemble skills), the ability to work on your own (solo performance), the ability to be focused and self-motivated (practise), creativity (composition skills), following a brief (coursework), presentation skills an entrepreneurship.