Music – Curriculum Adventure

Music at Da Vinci Academy is taught throughout Key Stage 3 with the option to continue this into Key Stage 4 with the WJEC Performing Arts Vocational Course (specialising in Music) in Years 10 and 11. At Key Stage 3, students will be encouraged to develop key performance, composition, instrumental, contextual and listening skills. This in turn will allow them to have key skills covering a broad range of genres, styles and interests as well as developing confidence with individual and team contributions.

Students will always be given the opportunity to take part in the various extra-curricular areas including: Choir opportunities; Ready to Rock (beginner band clubs) and general music practise opportunities for activities such as band work and individual practise. Likewise we have a strong set of peripatetic teachers who teach piano, voice, drum and guitar in every week, in addition to our annual concerts and primary links.

Key Stage 3

During Year 7 students have the opportunity to develop confidence through Performing Arts, where they cover areas such as vocal performance, dance and drama. Students cover a range of musicals and focus on develop confidence through performance. When moving into Year 8 and 9 students will develop foundation skills on a specialist instrument and be given opportunities to follow graded exam syllabus content as well as chances to perform and compose. Lessons, inspiration days and homework will be tied into areas of research covering a wide range of genres from African Tribal Music through to Jazz and Blues, and Classical Keyboard pieces through to 21^st Century and Film Music. All throughout KS3 students will develop these skills with a heavy influence on performing to ensure the best outcomes for KS4 courses in Year 10 and 11.

Key Stage 4

Students can choose to study the WJEC Performing Arts Vocational Course (specialising in Music) as part of the Key Stage 4 pathways process. This course covers practical performance experience as well as opportunities to be creative and compose. Set briefs are released each year where students will be expected to learn how to then design events covering set scenarios and briefs. This course is well suited to students who have an interest in performance and composition as well as an interest in developing products in the music industry.

During the course students will be expected to complete the following units;

• Unit 1 – Performing 30% of qualification
• Unit 2 – Creating 30% of qualification
• Unit 3 – Performing Arts in Practice 40% of qualification

Extra-curricular

At Da Vinci, Music plays a huge role in involving students outside of the classroom in order to develop a whole Academy experience and confidence to take forward to other aspects of their life. As many opportunities as possible are put forward to all students; below are some of the most recent events.

A Night of Musicals – March 2023

This year we are putting together a show night which includes a medley of musicals. This will involve a range of year groups and include singing and dancing. It’s a great opportuity to challenge our students to new repertoire and to give them an oppportunity to experiment with stage design and costume. They begin by auditioning for parts before completing the final performance where parents and members of the community are invited to celebrate in their hard work and determination.

West End Theatre Trip

Students who have shown commitment and high attitudes to learning in music are given the opportunity to go to either London, Birmingham or Manchester to see touring productions from the West End. Shows we have seen so far include: Les Miserables and We Will Rock You.

Instrumental Lessons – On-going

Students are invited to have one to one or paired instrumental lessons with fully qualified instrumental Students are invited to have one to one or paired instrumental lessons with fully qualified instrumental teachers on piano, keyboard, guitar, voice and drum. This allows students to develop key knowledge of their instrument to support their enjoyment of music and support their music education.

KS3 and KS4 Practice – Every lunch and evening after school

All students are welcome to attend after school to rehearse class work, instrumental lesson content, have additional support or just attend for fun and a jam! In music we have an open door policy where students are able to access practise and rehearsal spaces to explore their musicality.