Director of Music Mr Williams
Mr Williams
We sat down with Director of Music Mr Williams for an in-depth interview, where he spoke about a wide range of topics regarding the department.
Can you tell us about your music department and the resources it provides?
The music department also provides music for internal services and concerts as well as external events such as charity concerts, remembrance services and festivals. We prepare pupils for competitions such as the Chester festival and work in close collaboration with the Drama, Art and DT departments helping to prepare them for performance in musicals.
We have a small recording studio which pupils use to record compositions as part of their coursework as well as for their own musical development.
There are two class teachers in the department, a whole school music teacher, Mr Richard Davies and I both create music specifically for classes, ensembles and individual students to perform as well as programming work by other composers.
How important is music education at Rydal Penrhos?
We believe music to be vitally important both as a curriculum subject and as an extra-curricular activity. Susan Hallam discusses the importance of music as a subject in both its own right and as an aid to other subjects in ‘The importance of music education’ (Hallam, 2010) and we certainly support her views.
As an extra-curricular activity all pupils from early years to year 9 are involved in school concerts at certain times through the year. We work hard to maintain an interest in and enthusiasm for singing by performing in a variety of styles.
It won’t surprise anyone that popular music in its various forms is enjoyed by both prep and senior pupils; pupils in the senior school have responded well to its inclusion over the last couple of years.
We also encourage staff to take part in concerts, pop gospels and services and many of them are in the choir. We have a vision for singing that we will eventually be a singing school were a huge percentage of pupils and staff enjoy singing.
How many music lessons a week do pupils have?
All classes from early years to year 9 have curriculum lessons. Early years to year 2 have half an hour a week, years 3 to 6 have 80 minutes and years' 7 to 9 have 55 mins.
We also have GCSE, A level and IB students studying music at a higher level.
What essential skills can music teach?
It can teach many thinking, literacy, numeracy, PSHE and Global learning skills.
In the areas of thinking skills, pupils plan, develop and reflect upon their musical work in its various forms. Within those areas they discover intrinsic activities such as determining a process, method or strategy.
There are oracy, reading and writing skills that are developed during the study of music as well as aspects of numeracy such as identifying processes and connections and using number facts and relationships.
Within the area of PSHE pupils learn to develop confidence and by doing so reflect upon the path and elements that enabled that confidence whilst learning the value of themselves and others in a team.
That spurs them onto to thinking about the wider global community and the importance that music has, both as a subject as a way of life.
It’s a bold view and one that certainly would be challenged, but I firmly believe that music teaches you a way to being an emotionally intelligent human being, who understands the importance of a unifying language.