Music Department - Introduction

The music department offers everyone the opportunity to realise their full musical potential by being a fully inclusive department. The Head of Music is Lisa Todd; a woodwind, performance and composition specialist.

The aim of the department is to give every pupil the opportunity to be involved in the music department. We offer a broad range of extra-curricular activities and welcome all pupils from across the school. Groups include: SATB choir, Wind Orchestra, Jazz Band, Rock and Pop groups and String Ensemble. There are several whole school performances throughout the year, showcasing all the larger ensembles and giving musicians and singers the opportunity to perform.

The House Music competition in the Summer Term is a particular highlight as this is a student run competition and involves over 100 pupils taking part. The department also offers every pupil the opportunity to have vocal and instrumental tuition, organised by Lisa Todd, the Head of Music. You can learn to sing, play piano, guitar, drums or any woodwind, brass or string instrument. The department also offers support with the GCSE and A Level studies after school as part of their extra-curricular activities.

The Choir, Jazz Band and Wind Orchestra have taken part on several world tours and performed in prestigious venues across the world, including The Basilica in Venice, Barcelona Cathedral and most recently in July 2015 in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, performing a wide repertoire of music from 16th Century unaccompanied sacred Latin music to more contemporary music, including rock, pop, Jazz and musical theatre. Pupils even had the opportunity to sing on Broadway in New York and take part in a Broadway workshop with the Stars of the Musical 'Wicked'.

In year 9 pupils study the 3 main core skills of music; performing, listening and appraising music. This is taught through studying Classical and Romantic music, Film and Music, World Music and culminates in a final project where pupils are given the opportunity to write their own song, perform and record it.

Pupils study the OCR syllabus for GCSE music, which includes learning to perform and compose music.  Pupils study a wide range of musical styles including Music for Film and Games, World Music and Popular Music from the 1950s to the present day.  Pupils follow the Edexcel syllabus for A Level music, which enables pupils to study performance, composition and analysis of a wide range of musical styles. The Edexcel syllabus fully prepared pupils to study music beyond A Level, as it includes 4 part harmony, compositional techniques and a rigorous approach to musical analysis. 

Department Members

Mrs L Todd: Head of Music