Mellis Church of England Primary School - 'To Be Our Best'

Mellis is very fortunate to have a considerable amount of musical talent and expertise available to its pupils.

Jaqui Luckett (our in-house music instructor, seen left) has an impressive musical resume, being proficient in five(!) instruments, and having travelled and worked with international standard Orchestras and Choirs. Here she explains music provision at Mellis.

Each class has one hour of music a week and all lessons are taught by our music coordinator Jaqui Luckett.  At KS1 children learn about the musical elements including pitch, tempo, dynamics and duration.  They also learn to explore different sounds and rhythms and to play accompaniments to a steady beat.  At KS2 the emphasis is more on using notation and performing with an awareness of other parts, as well as composition where children learn how to combine the musical elements expressively.

In addition to class music, all year four pupils learn to play the recorder on a Wednesday morning and we also run SEN and Gifted and Talented music groups. Jaqui also runs individual instrumental lessons for Year 4 and upward, and is assisted in this by Mrs Rebecca Clark.

Year 6 have the added opportunity of learning an instrument with a specialist instructor.

Our Music Room.

Mellis is also extraordinarily lucky to have a dedicated music room, using funds from the Mellis School Parents' Association and from private donations.

ORCHESTRA

 The orchestra performs three times a year; at our Christmas and Easter church services and at our Midsummer Concert in June.  Pieces we have performed in the past are English Country Gardens, Scarborough Fair and various Christmas carols.

CHOIR

  We sing a variety of music but the main aim is to have fun and for the children to enjoy singing.  The choir also perform at all our church services and our Midsummer Concert. There is a big emphasis on singing throughout the school both in assemblies and for special events such as church services.

RECORDER GROUPS.

Thanks to parental help we currently have three recorder groups ranging from beginner to advanced.  Children are able to learn the recorder from year 2 and the children who continue through to the advanced group usually achieve a high standard.

MUSIC WORKSHOPS.

We try to organise at least one musical outing or workshop a year.  Previous outings have been trips to Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Lion King and we have arranged workshops in African Drumming, Gamalan, Tudor Music and Aboriginal music and dance.

SUMMER CONCERT

Our annual summer concert is a chance for our solo instrumentalists, as well as our music groups, to show what they have achieved during the year and to experience performing in public.  This is a very relaxed informal occasion which the children enjoy and which usually rounds off a successful musical year.

RECENT EVENTS.

In 2015, Mellis KS2 participated in the Young Voices Choir at the O2 arena, with over 7000 other children! Our Mid-Summer Concert was especially successful this year, with well over half of KS2 (55 children) performing in an individual capacity, and a further 20 in the Brass Band and Choirs!