Music
“With music, one’s whole future life is brightened. This is such a treasure in life that it helps us over many troubles and difficulties. Music multiplies all that is beautiful and of value in life.” – Zoltan Kodaly
Music is everywhere at Whinney Banks and we recognise the power music holds in uniting us as a community. We know music can have a positive impact upon social, emotional and physical development, as well as being beneficial for mental well-being. Our music curriculum aims to enable all children to sing, play and create music together, while nurturing children’s musical interests and talent.
Teaching of music
The teaching of music is divided into the following strands:
- singing
- listening
- composition
- musicianship
This is taught during weekly whole school singing practice, classroom music lessons, within class performances and extra-curricular music sessions. Children listen to a wide range of musical genre, either through live music performances or high-quality recordings. Children are taught how to think, work and communicate like a musician. Musicianship skills are taught through singing activities and games, based on the Kodaly approach to music teaching. During each year, children will play untuned and tuned instruments and develop a varied repertoire of songs.
Enrichment Opportunities
In addition to weekly singing assemblies, our children have the opportunity to join in with other special musical experience. These include singing and performing with our school choir, playing steel pan drums, ukulele lessons and trips to the theatre. Children regularly attend events at Middlesbrough Town Hall, including workshops, classical performances and music festivals. Our choir have taken part in The Big Sing at The Glasshouse in Gateshead and visited a professional recording studio.
