Local context is also important in music as we believe children should have access to as many local musical opportunities as possible. Throughout the year various small KS2 groups as well as all Year 3 visit The Dragon School for Orchestra, Percussion and Choral days as well as The Year 3 Singing Day. The link with the Dragon School provides opportunities for children to work with professional musicians and singers and all days end with a performance in which parents/careers are invited to.
As a music department we have also made links with Magdalen College School. The offer one or two musical performances by sixth formers on a range of instruments that cover a variety of styles.
We also have connections to a fantastic organisation called ‘The Oxford Philomusica.’ They offer our schools free projects where we work alongside professional working musicians to create a musical performance from scratch. Previous themes include, opera, space and the different seasons. They provide our children with opportunities to play and perform using strings, percussion and voice.
Every year we also perform at the ‘The Festival Of Voices.’ This is a local music event at Dorchester Abby. Children learn and sing a range of different songs including songs from different cultures and a variety of musical contexts. Students sing alongside other schools and they are not only accompanied by a professional band but also led by an experienced conductor.