Curriculum Team Leader
Mr Chris Rodaway (c.rodaway@tgs.starmat.uk)
Music is intrinsically intertwined in all our lives and can have great benefits on both academic success and a young person’s wellbeing. We believe that all students should have the opportunity to enjoy learning a musical instrument and to explore a variety of musical genres.
Our Music curriculum seeks to develop unique and meaningful values including ambition, creativity, responsibility, team work, resilience and perseverance, all whilst broadening students’ cultural capital. Alongside our curriculum time we also offer instrumental/vocal lessons and a variety of extra-curricular musical activities such as Pop Choir, Jam Clubs, Concert Band and Big Band.
More recently, a new BRASS CLUB has been added to the lunchtime activities: created to encourage year 7 and 8 students, who have not had the opportunity to learn a brass instrument up to now, to join together with Mr Rodaway and some older students, who introduce them to the fun of learning an instrument. We are very lucky at TGS to have a number of instruments that we have been able to loan to these students for up to a year so they can really develop their interest over time before committing to buying the instrument.
We encourage all students to learn to play a musical instrument on top of our normal curriculum lessons. We can facilitate individual or group lessons lasting 20 or 30 minutes delivered by our team of visiting specialist instrumental teachers. Lessons are currently available for voice, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, saxophone, guitar, bass guitar, ukulele, drum kit and piano. We use the North Yorkshire Music Hub for all our instrumental and vocal lessons. There are various discounts available and we may also be able to support students receiving Pupil Premium funding.
More information is available here – www.northyorkshiremusichub.co.uk
If you should have any questions regarding instrumental/vocal lessons please contact our Music Curriculum Support, Kerry Lander – k.lander@tgs.starmat.uk
KS3 and KS4 Music Curriculum 2024Key Stage 3
All students receive one hour of music a week in Years 7 – 9. We cover performing, composing and listening to/appraising music. Our ‘Composer of the week’ activity allows students exposure to a wide variety of musical genres whilst also developing their musical literacy and ability to articulate what they can hear using musical vocabulary. We carry out performance projects using a variety of instruments, some as individual tasks and others as ensembles. We also explore the world of Music Technology using Bandlab, a Digital Audio Workstation which we are able to use as a tool to develop composition skills.
Key Stage 4
Music GCSE
At GCSE we follow the Eduqas specification which comprises the three components below.
Component 1 – Performing.
Students give a solo and group performance with a minimum combined time of 4 minutes.
Component 1 makes up 30% of the GCSE grade.
Component 2 – Composing.
Students submit 2 compositions. One of which is a free composition and one is in response to a given brief with a combined duration of 3-6 minutes.
Component 2 makes up 30% of the GCSE grade.
Component 3 – Appraising.
Students listen to and identify key features of music from following areas of study:
AoS1 -Musical Forms and devices
AoS2 – Music for Ensemble
AoS3 – Film Music
A0S4 – Popular Music
Component 3 makes up 40% of the GCSE grade.
Extra-curricular
Students are encouraged to extend their musical experience and enjoyment by joining one or more of the groups which rehearse at lunchtime or after school each week. Current ensembles include: Concert Band, Big Band, Pop Choir, Brass Club and our multiple Jam Clubs. There is a group for everyone whether they have plenty of musical experience or are just beginning their musical journey.