Our Vision
At Westbury Park, our music curriculum is designed to help children learn about music so that they develop an appreciation for not only how music is created but also a life-long love of music. In school, a broad balance of performance, listening and composition opportunities creates an enriching curriculum that celebrates music from different traditions and from great composers and musicians. Music lessons are skills based and interactive aiming to foster a passion for music in children of all abilities. Music is a strength of the school with high quality whole school singing and encouragement for children to take up an instrument in addition to their class lessons. It is our vision that class music lessons give the opportunity for children to see themselves as musicians and there is a focus on developing a secure understanding of the inter-related dimensions of music (pitch, duration/rhythm, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure, notation) through practical music making.
Music @ Westbury Park
Music Mark School
Westbury Park School is a Music Mark School, awarded by The ABRSM, one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualifications in music within the UK's National Qualifications Framework. This is in recognition of the value that Westbury Park puts on music education as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. For more information visit https://www.musicmark.org.uk/join/schools/
Performance Opportunities
There are many performance opportunities at Westbury Park and can vary from year to year. Typically, there is a Nativity Play in Reception, Christmas show in Year 1, in Year 2 a Christmas sing along is organised by Bristol Beacon as well as Spiegeltent and Summer production. In KS2, Year 3 explore Samba drumming and a 10 week Fast for music programme. Year 4 have the opportunity to play as part of a steel band and perform in a concert at Colston Hall. In the Spring, Year 5 perform a Shakespeare Rocks concert. There are many opportunities to perform in Year 6 including a summer production involving songs with different parts. Finally, there are many more workshops and concerts organised throughout the year by Bristol Beacon.
Singing Opportunities
At Westbury Park, we love to sing! There are many ways that you can get involved.
Key Stage 2 Choir!
Our choir at Westbury Park has been going from strength to strength over the past few years. This is an un-auditioned group of 30 singers from Year 3-6 who sing a wide variety of songs from different musical styles and genres. They are encouraged to sing solos in our performances and are developing the skills of learning to sing in rounds and part harmonies. They perform for members of the community, including Meadowcare Nursing home and have helped to raise money for the charity at Southmead Hospital. In addition, they sing at St George’s and take part in city wide singing festivals.
Singing Assemblies
We have singing assemblies once a week and also rehearse on a Friday. We have a composer of the week and like to learn about lots of different genres of music. We sing in unison, in parts and in rounds. Sometimes we sing in harmony.
What do the children say?
"It's fun when we learn an instrument altogether. We are learning the ukulele at the moment and are going to perform as a whole class!"
"We are learning to read music. Sometimes that is quite tricky but if you have never done it before, or you don't learn an instrument, you can choose the slightly easier music to play. Some people can read music easily- like a book!- and they can play the more complicated parts."
"We've learnt about a lot of different types of music- opera, pop, rock. We sing; we play instruments; we write music! It's great!"
"I'm a part of the school choir and I love it! This year, we have performed a lot! At the Christmas Bazaar, we sang Christmas Carols and we sang them as part of our Christmas Service. We performed at Bristol Beacon and we sang to all the volunteers to thank them for helping us. When you are older, you can sing a solo if you are confident in front of everyone. I really hope I sing one!"
Overview
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