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Music Enrichment
We continue to be immensely proud of the musical achievements of our students. The department offers students a huge array of musical opportunities, both within the classroom and through our extra-curricular provision. Our results at KS4 and KS5, both for Music and Music Technology, are consistently outstanding and students enjoy the practical focus of our curriculum.
We aim to make music-making pertinent to learners by building on their own musical interests whilst also broadening their awareness of music from a wide range of styles, cultures and traditions. Students can develop mastery over a wide range of instruments or follow a learning pathway in Music Technology in which they explore the use of software to make music.
Our annual Christmas and summer concerts are the pinnacle of the year and regularly see well over 100 students involved in various instrumental and vocal groups. The Senior Concert Band and Choir perform on our biennial European music tour. In recent years they have played at prominent locations in Barcelona, Paris and the West Coast of the Netherlands, being very well received by locals! Other concerts take place throughout the year. House concerts during lunchtimes are regularly performed to packed student audiences and we always enjoy seeing how well students support each other. Various ensembles and soloists also regularly feature at various local festivals and the large number of students who opt to take instrumental and/or vocal lessons ensures we always have a large talent-pool! The department is also well known for the Musical Productions we put on together with the Drama department. Recent shows such as Oliver, Les Misérables and Rent have been real spectacles, with numerous exceptional student performances and achievements.
Please see the linked pages for specific details of our curriculum at each Key Stage and also for more information on our extra-curricular provision. The music webpages offer a number of useful resources to support exam classes and students’ knowledge of music theory and composition practices.
The department is able to offer high-quality instrumental and vocal lessons, on a range of instruments, delivered by a team of exceptional visiting peripatetic teachers. We are often able to loan out instruments for students starting and lessons are partially subsidised by the school.
Mr Balcombe
Head of Department
