Music Department Ethos

The Music Department is an inclusive environment that ensures equal access to Music for all students and strives to create opportunities for students of all abilities and interests to develop their creativity through music-making.

Resources

Students are introduced to a wide range of instruments to give them a diverse experience. At Ernesford Grange Community Academy we have: a class set of Samba Drums, a class set of Keyboards, a class set of Percussion, a class set of Ukuleles, a variety of Guitars, Bass Guitars and Drumkits, all of which students can access in and out of their music lessons.

Extra-Curricular Opportunities

Throughout the school week there are extra-curricular opportunities to get involved in:

Piano and Singing Club – During Monday lunchtimes students can bring their lunch to the music classroom and share their singing and keyboard playing with their peers.

Choir – After school on Wednesdays we welcome all singers across all years and abilities to sing a variety of songs chosen by the students.

Rock Band – After school on Thursday a collection of contemporary student musicians come together to play in bands. We have several members of staff that share their musical expertise in band performance. Students can try out playing Guitar, Drums, Bass, Keyboard and Singing as part of a Rock Band.

School Musical – All students are able to audition to be part of the fantastic yearly school production, and receive vocal tuition through this, as well as excellent performance experience in front of a live audience. Students also have the opportunity to perform as part of the pit band to accompany the school show, which is excellent work experience for becoming a performing musician.

KS3

At Key Stage 3 all students have access to music lessons which run on a 6-week rotation with Key Stage 3 drama. The curriculum at Key Stage 3 is broad and offers a variety of schemes of work that engages students in music-making and promotes progress at all levels.

Performance, composition and theoretical knowledge is integrated into every scheme of work to make sure learning is well-rounded and engaging for all pupils. Students are also able to develop their cultural and historical musical knowledge through the study of different genres.

The Key Stage 3 curriculum covers:

Samba Music – Students learn the context behind Samba Music and develop their knowledge of rhythm through the use of Samba instruments. There is a variety of solo, small group and whole class performance which promotes listening and communication skills. Students learn to compose using rhythmic notation and collaborate to create a final performance.

Musical Elements – Students are introduced to melody, timbre, harmony, instrumentation, tonality, structure and texture. This is completed through a variety of tasks which engage with composition, performance and theory knowledge.

Programme Music – Students are introduced to reading classical music notation through this module. Students analyse and learn to play a piece of programme music using keyboards to develop an awareness of how music can be used to create a story.

Popular Music – Students learn how to construct major and minor chords using the keyboard and Ukuleles. They understand how to play chord progressions and work together in small groups to recreate a piece of popular music and perform this to the class.

Reggae Music – Students are introduced to the context of Reggae music, developing music knowledge by learning the distinct features of the Reggae genre and recreating these as part of a small group.

Film and Game Music – Students develop their awareness of how music is used for different forms of media through: composing for a short clip of film; analysing how different music changes the tone of a piece of media; performing a piece of video game music using a variety of instruments.