King Edward VI Shakespeare's School | Stratford-upon-Avon

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"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything." Plato

K.E.S. is enormously proud of its Music Department. It is a busy and thriving department place, offering students a huge variety of musical experiences both in and outside the classroom. All Year 7s are offered the opportunity to study an instrument, free of charge, for their first term, and this is the School’s tangible investment in the musical ethos of the School: all students can take part.

Emphasis is placed on practical music-making during Year 7 and 8. Boys are taught in forms and follow a varied scheme of work including performance, singing, improvisation and composition which also includes developing some theoretical understanding of musical processes as well as historical context. All Year 7 students sing and play instruments together in the annual Year 7 Concert. In Years 9 to 11, students who opt for Music cover a course which culminates in a GCSE (AQA 8271). During these three years they also have an opportunity to take the ABRSM Grade 5 Theory examination. In Years 12 and 13 students study history and composition in more depth, with a continued emphasis on performance, leading to A level (AQA 7272). Across all Year groups, student work is enhanced by materials on the Digital Classroom.

Music is an increasingly popular GCSE option with almost a third of the current Year 9 opting for it. Students regularly leave School to study Music, either at University or Conservatoire. Six students from the past three years are currently studying Music at Oxbridge colleges.

The department is located centrally in the School and consists of a general music classroom and a dedicated ICT suite. There are also eight practice rooms, each with a keyboard instrument, including a Schimmel concert grand piano, a Yamaha baby grand and a Roland digital harpsichord.

Two specialist staff teach Music across all years, and there is a team of nineteen visiting music teachers who teach instrumental and vocal lessons on a one-to-one basis.

For more details of individual lessons, ensembles and performance opportunities at the School, please head to the section entitled ‘Extra-curricular’.

Extra resources can be found below: