Posted on: June 29th 2012
Pupils at Norfolk House enjoyed a great variety of musical activities as part of their recent Music Focus Day. The day provided great experiences for all the children as well as resulting in some fantastic work!
The youngest pupils in Reception sang and danced to world music from different continents, whilst Pre Prep explored the musical story of Peter and the Wolf - a childhood classic about Peter, his animal friends, his grandfather, the wolf and the hunters. Each character has an appropriate musical theme which makes this piece a delight to hear. Pupils were able to identify the sounds of a variety of orchestral instruments and demonstrate how music communicates meaning of text, feelings, moods or images and influences personal preference. It was a wonderful cross-curricular project exploring Music, English and Drama.
Form 2 pupils brought their favourite CDs in to school to look at their covers and discuss their purposes and effectiveness in promoting a music product. Pupils then designed their own covers using computer software and copies were displayed in class.
Form 3 pupils linked their music project with their Art topic “Take one Picture”, the National Gallery's countrywide scheme for primary schools. The focus picture was ‘Still Life with Drinking-Horn’ by Willem Kalf (1619–1693). Inspired by the Renaissance, pupils listened to music and sang songs from this era. They wrote their own poems and composed their own music in Renaissance style and were delighted to perform their compositions in class.
Form 4’s music project was linked to Design & Technology. Pupils designed and constructed their own musical instruments: harps and guitars. They were encouraged to be inventive, using a range of materials and tools, thus developing, modifying and evaluating their ideas. Pupils explored the production of sound and used their own instruments for a class performance.
Forms 5 and 6 travelled to central London to attend a Gamelan workshop organised by the London Symphony Orchestra. A gamelan is a set of percussion instruments from Indonesia. It usually consists of bronze metallophones and gongs, mounted on wooden frames which are beautifully carved and painted. Gamelan ensembles traditionally perform outdoors at village temple ceremonies or accompany performances of dance, drama and puppet theatre. Pupils had the chance to perform on these extraordinary instruments and create authentic Balinese music.
See a film from Years 5 and 6’s Gamelan workshop below.
