Music
At JKHS, playing and creating music is at the heart of our curriculum offering, leading to a thirst for further listening, a hobby or even further study or a career. Music at JKHS is designed to instil a lifelong love of and skills for music as both a creative art form and a tool for self-expression. At JKHS we nurture students’ creativity, self-expression and guide them progressively through an eclectic, exciting and well-rounded music education. We use music as a tool for bringing the school and the wider community together.
Music can teach confidence, self-belief, give a sense of overwhelming achievement, and can help overcome challenges with the ability to communicate in a new and diverse way. Music can help us make sense of the world emotionally, physically, historically, and culturally.
The Music department is a purpose-built block with excellent facilities. We have three main classrooms equipped with keyboards and/or computers, one being a specialist Mac suite, two fully equipped studios and a central recording/mixing control room plus three practice rooms.
Teaching staff
Miss Lydia Taylor - Head of Music - l.taylor@jkhs.org.uk
Mr Alex Davis - Teacher of Music
Key Stage 3 Music
The topics covered at Key Stage 3 enable students to explore, develop and embed their performance, listening and composing skills, preparing students for the courses offered at Key Stage 4.
Year 7:
In Year 7, students delve into sound exploration by performing as a whole class on a variety of instruments. Short composing activities to solidify and demonstrate their understanding of key musical elements and basic music theory. Music technology is also introduced, enabling students to gain the understanding, confidence, and skills needed to loop and sequence MIDI data, along with other technology skills.
Year 8:
In Year 8, students develop their whole-class ensemble skills, progressing to taking responsibility for smaller band rehearsals in a practice space. Students are introduced to TAB for guitar, bass, and ukulele, equipping them with the tools and skills to continue making music outside of school by researching their own songs and chords. Composing remains structured, with an introduction to basic tonality and harmony concepts. Students also have time to advance their individual keyboard skills, reading more challenging notation and improving their technical abilities to enhance expression. Dedicated time to music technology using a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) allows students to build on skills from Year 7, with a focus on remixing.
Year 9:
In Year 9, students focus on refining their skills from Year 7 and Year 8. Students are made responsible for leading their own rehearsals and practising their chosen instrument in smaller bands to create their own cover of a given song. Using their harmony and tonality knowledge, students are given time to write songs using technology and compose a film soundtrack utilising and mixing Foley effects and MIDI data. Year 9 culminates with a final term on music festivals, looking at the jobs, responsibilities, budgeting, and marketing choices involved in running a music festival. Students are given the opportunity to pull all their knowledge and skills together to pitch their music festival to peers in the final lesson, utilising the equipment and technology they prefer.
Key Stage 4 Music
We offer both Eduqas GCSE Music and BTEC Tech Award in Music Practice as two separate options enabling students to choose a pathway which utilises their strengths. Both GCSE and BTEC students use the Mac Suite to complete coursework either using Logic Pro X or Sibelius.
Year 10 GCSE Annual Plan 2024-2025
Year 11 GCSE Annual Plan 2024-2025
Eduqas GCSE Music
The Eduqas GCSE course involves composing two pieces, one to a set brief and one free for 30% of the course. Performing is allocated 30% with students needing to perform for a minimum of 4 minutes on an instrument(s) of their choice. This involves both solo performing and ensemble performing. The final 40% is a listening exam including two set works.
Students work their way through four areas of study, including Musical Forms and Devices, Music for Ensemble, Film Music and Popular Music. All of these are assessed in the listening exam. This allows students to cover a wide range and variety of musical genres over the course.
BTEC Award in Music Practice
This course gives students the opportunity to develop knowledge and technical skills in a practical learning environment. Students will develop key skills, ranging from rehearsing to experimenting with technology, equipment, and instruments. Students will also develop an understanding of the music industry. This qualification involves the study of three components, covering the following content areas:
- Exploring Music Products and Styles - exploring the techniques used in the creation of different musical products and investigating the key features of different musical styles.
- Music Skills Development – developing two musical disciplines through engagement in practical tasks and skill progression, whilst documenting and tracking progress.
- Responding to a Music Brief – developing and presenting a remix of a given song in a particular style through responding to a commercial music brief.
Instrumental Lessons and Extra Curricular:
Students can have instrumental tuition at JKHS and there is a team of specialist peripatetic teachers visiting each week from Encore Music Hub covering a wide range of string, woodwind, brass instruments, including guitars, ukulele, bass guitar, piano/keyboard, and vocals.
Extra-curricular music is a large part of the music offering at JKHS. Students have the opportunity to join a number of groups, including:
- JKHS Band
- JKHS Choir
- Sqwonk (woodwind group)
- Guitar/bass/ukulele group
- JKHS String Group
- Music Technology Club
- GCSE/BTEC Coursework Clinic
These groups provide two big concerts per year, one being a Carol Concert in December at St Mary’s Church in Ross and the other a Summer Showcase in July. Several smaller performance opportunities are also offered across the year, with students performing at the Hereford Performing Arts Festival and other events within school, including open evenings, rewards events, and fundraising events.
Students can also book practice rooms at breaktime and lunchtime for their own individual use or band rehearsal.