Music

Intent

Music gives all children the ability to express themselves creatively and with imagination.  It is an integral part of all cultures and opens up an avenue for cross curricular learning whilst providing the opportunity to bring a topic to life.

At Great Missenden School the intent is to inspire a love of music, promote understanding and give children the ability and confidence to make music. 

Implementation

• Every child receives at a minimum a 1 hour dedicated music lesson each week delivered by a specialist music teacher
• A progressive approach is taken and children learn to listen, understand, compose and play music from reception upwards, with skills and knowledge increasing sequentially year on year  (progression of skills document is in the documents section at bottom of this page)
• We take a very practical, skills based approach to the learning and children will sing and/or play instruments in every music lesson. 
• Whole class practical musicianship is taught in music lessons throughout KS1 and KS2 (Drumming, samba band, ukulele, band skills, classroom percussion)  
• Throughout their time at the school children are exposed to a huge range of different musical genres and styles from all over the globe - past and present. (Musician of the Month listening calendar is in the documents section at bottom of this page, but is not an exhaustive list)
• We use IT and apps within the music classroom and on stage to aid music making, tuning, composition, production and performance
• All children have the opportunity to take part in extra-curricular musical activities in the form of lunchtime or after school clubs.  
• KS2 children have the opportunity to take instrumental lessons if they wish. These lessons are delivered during school time by teachers from the Bucks Music Trust (BTM)

Impact

At Great Missenden school we are musicians, we are singers, we are composers we are performers and we listen to a wide range of music. Enjoyment of music is a key focus; enhancing well-being, self-confidence and a sense of achievement for the children.

Music assessment is on-going throughout the year and children are encouraged to discover, identify and develop their own areas of strength.    Alongside the ‘taught musical skills’ children learn to formulate an opinion and to participate and collaborate with others; enhancing teamworking skills and building an awareness of self and others.

Musical experiences stretch beyond the National Curriculum with visits from professional musicians, composers and theatre companies.  Every child rehearses and performs at least once in front of an audience each year

Outside the classroom there are also optional additional performance opportunities.  Over a third of the pupils in KS1 and KS2 (145 children) chose to take part in the Christmas Performing Arts Showcase Christmas 2023 - this comprised of performances prepared during teacher led after school performing arts clubs.

Pupil Voice Impact Analysis

Year 1: "It (music) is so much fun, I love singing the ‘Dinosaur Dance”

Year 2: "(I like)  playing the drums and learning new things”

Year 3:   “We are always learning new songs and we have fun too”

Year 4: "I enjoyed all of the commonwealth countries coming together and singing the song by Gary Barlow(Sing). And I enjoyed Samba”

Year 5: "I was really proud of myself when I wrote my own melody line (chrome music lab and beepbox) I was able to come up with various different melodies in a short amount of time”

Year 6: "I was really proud of myself when I practised hard for my solo then (boys name) and I got lots of praise from the music teacher for singing loudly and being in time.  It made me happy for the rest of the day"

We want our children to leave Great Missenden with an enjoyment and a love of music. All children at our school will have experienced taking part in live performances to an audience; giving them increased confidence to speak and perform in public.  We hope that they will take this knowledge and their musical experiences with them into year 7 where they can continue to build upon the skills they have learned as they progress through their secondary education.

Class Music News - Sept 2023 - July 2024

Centenary Praise - 15th June St Marys Church, Chesham

This year Chamber Choir will once again join The Firth Singers for their concert 'Centenary Praise'.  The Firth Singers are an outstanding adult concert choir and it is such an amazing opportunity for the children.  This year the children will perform as a choir on their own and alongside the adult choir.  Ticket information will follow and is also available on The Firth Singers Facebook page.  

Please see the link below for highlights of ;ast years concert to celebrate The Coronation. Firth Singers Concert Highlights.MOV  

Clubs and Concerts for the Summer Term 2024

We are looking forward to lots of music and performance again this summer term.  Please find details below and full information will follow via email to those families involved.

Concerts:

Sunday 28th April 10am -  St Georges Day service at the church.  Open to yrs 3 - 5 to speak and whole school to sing

Thursday 23rd May 3.30pm - Orchestra Concert and Instrumental Showcase

Saturday 15th June Time TBC - Centenary Praise (The Firth Singers concert at St Marys Church Chesham)  - Chamber Choir

Sat 6th July - Rock Band performing at Summer Fair - Time TBC  (Whole school singing will also take place at this event, more details to follow)

 Tues/Weds 9th/10th July Times TBC - Year 6 Production A-la-la-la-la-laddin!

Friday 19th July at 2.15pm - Y6 Leavers assembly 

Music clubs Summer 2024

Rock Band - Monday 3.15 - 4.15

Chamber Choir  - Tuesday 3.15 - 4.15

Orchestra - Thursday 3.15 - 4.15 

Year 2 performed brilliantly at the Little Missenden Festivals concert on Thursday 29th February.  They sang their own composition to a large audience up at the church; alongside children from Hyde Heath and Little Missenden Schools.  In the run up to the concert, Year 2 took part in a series of composition workshops led by composer, John Webb.  A Number of talented musicians visited us throughout these workshops and the children were able to hear/learn about the instruments, write their own song, and then bring it all together at the concert. 

Thank you very much to the Little Missenden Festival for running the schools workshops again this year. The festival is always a highlight of the year for children and staff. And congratulations to Year 2 following your incredibly succesful performance! 

This year the theme was 'Going on Safari'  A recording of the performance of our GM Composition 'Awsome Balloon Safari' is below.  Please have a listen, it really is awsome!

Music Clubs For Spring 2024

Monday - Rock Band 3.15 - 4.15  (Music Room)

Tuesday - Musical Theatre Club 3.15 - 4.15 (Hall)

Thursday - Orchestra 3.15 - 4.15 (Music room)

After half term we will restart Y5/6 Chamber Choir on a Monday (during school hours) in preparation for our concert with The Firth Singers in June.  Letters will be sent to parents before half term with further details. 

Concerts For Spring 2024

Friday 26th January  - YV Experience for Y5 Parents  9.15am in school hall  

Weds 31st January  -   Young Voices at O2 (Y5)

Thurs 1st Feb -       Y2 composition workshops begin (4 weeks of workshops in school with visiting musicians and composers)

Thurs 29th February - Y2 Little Missenden Festival concert at Church 

Weds 6th March    - Y1 Mothers Day Assembly

Tues 26th March   - Y4 lead Easter Service at Church (Parents invited 2pm)

Christmas Performances

Congratulations Great Missenden pupils !!  You delivered some fantastic performances at Christmas this year.  Over 250 children performed in at least one concert/service during December, with a few getting on stage 2 or 3 times. From The EYFS Christingle to the Performing Arts Show, from nativites to community carol singing - Great Missenden, you rocked Christmas!

2023 - 24 Performance Schedule

We have lots of exciting plans for performances coming up this academic year Please find below a list of dates for the Autumn Term and beyond.

Autumn  Term

W/C 4th September Rock Band Auditions - children will be given a timetable on 4th/5th

1st October - After School KS2 Music Clubs will commence (Monday: Rock Band, Tuesday: KS2 Choir, Thursday: Ochestra)

25th November - Christmas Carols at Village Festival 

2/3rd Dec (TBC) Christmas Carols at Church 

KS1 Nativity (time and date TBC)

EYFS Christingle at Church of St Peter and St Paul

Year 3 Carol Service (time and date TBC)

Performing Arts Showcase - teacher led performance clubs involved (times TBC)

2024

January - Y5 Trip to perform at Young Voices 2024 at the O2

June 15th - Concert with The Firth Singers (Chamber Choir - club will start January 2024)

Summer Fair - Rock Band  (Date TBC)

October - Black History Month

Black History Month is dedicated to celebrating and learning about Black heritage. It gives everyone the opportunity to recognise the achievements of and share appreciation of those with African or Caribbean backgrounds.

This month in music we will be exploring and celebrating a number of wonderful musicians and composers. 

Please also find below a listening calendar with spotify playlist should you wish to explore and celebrate more black composers and musicians at home.