Autumn 1 2023

    Children in singing assembly are enjoying singing  Harvest Samba and Conkers ready for our Harvest celebration. Y6 remembered the harmony from last year! 

In music lessons each class is enjoying learning about classical composers. Each composer  is  from a different country. Y5 have learnt that the landscape of mountains and fjords in Norway influenced Edvard Grieg  to write Hall of the Mountain  King. The children are composing their own body percussion pieces to accompany this exciting and thrilling piece of music.

They began composing in groups this week.

                                                            Summer 1 and 2 2023

The children are beginning to learn dances and play instruments ready for our second outdoor music festival. Similar to last year, classes are focussing on music and dance from around the world- Brazil, Africa, Mexico, New Zealand and the Punjab in India. 

Eight children will be chosen from KS2  to go and perform at the Ralph Thoresby Community festival along with 8 children from each of the 6  trust schools.

                                   Highlights of the Summer Music Festival as part of

                                                     Leeds City of Culture 2023

Each class walked proudly on to the stage carrying the flag of the country they were showcasing. 

                                Every class learnt a dance, played an instrument or sang to celebrate the culture of their chosen country. 

                                                              Spring 2 2023

The children in each class have enjoyed finding out about musical theatre and TV sound tracks this half term. Y6 did music activites based on the Dr Who theme tune. Y5 found out about Hans Zimmer and the fact he was a trailblazer in composing sound tracks for movies. The sound track we listened to was the theme tune to Blue Planet. The children composed their own clip after finding ou about `loops` on garageband. Y4 loved finding out about the Lion King and comparing the movie and the theatre production They learnt to sing The Circle of Life accompanied by body percussion and a chant in the Zulu language. Y3 are continuing to learn the ukulele. Y2 found out about the musical Mary Poppins and learnt to sing Let`s Go Fly a Kite. Y1 loved singing  Let it Go from the musical Frozen.

           The children learned how to talk and sing about the weather in Spanish. 

                                                        Spring 1 2023

    This half term the children are responding to Motown Sounds. Y6 are enjoying appraising, singing  and composing a melody on the glockenspiel inspired by Martha and the Vandellas `Dancing in the Street`. Y5 are appraising `I Heard it through the Grapevine`  by  Mavin Gaye and learning notes CDEF and G on the glockenspiel. They are enjoying learning tunes with backing tracks such as Mardi Gras. Y4 are responding to Lean on Me by Bill Withers. They learnt that he grew up in a poor mining village and everone relied on each other for help through the hard times. The class are learning notes CDE on the glockenspiel. They have achieved the CDE song. Y3 continue learning the ukulele. Y2 are aiming to play London`s Burning on the ocarina and Y1 continue to enjoy lots songs and rhythm games. 

            The focussed music dimension is texture. The children likened muscial layers in a piece of music  to the layers in a sandwich.  In singing assembly the focus is echo and call and response songs and singing in a round with actions. We are singing `Oleo` and `Calypso`.

                                              Autumn 1 2022

    The music focus for this half term was dynamics- how loud or quiet a piece of music is. Year 5 and 6 have been learning the Italian words to describe this element of music- pianissmo, piano, forte, fortissimo, crescendo and diminuendo.

All classes have been responding to classical music. In Y1 the children have enjoyed listening to Claire de Lune and in Y2 the children enjoyed listening to Mozarts Rondo a la Turc.

Y4, 5 and 6 composed their own body percussion pieces to Mars Bringer of War by Gustav Holst, Edvard Grieg`s Hall of the Mountain King and Beethoven`s Symphony no 5 in C Minor.

A new development this half term was a decision to join togther with our Trust Schools and form a choir choosing Y4 as a pilot scheme. The song chosen is a Ukranian folk song which Y4 also hope to perform at Christmas.

                                                Summer  2   Music Festival 2022

     The classes practised and performed their musical and dance talents to the parents on the school field. There were lots of smiles from the children and parents especially when the Mums and Dads joined in with the children.

The origins of the dances and music were from different countries from around the world-

Ghana, India, New Zealand, Brazil, Columbia, West and South Africa.

Reception chanted Che Che Kule. It is a call and response chant from Ghana.

                        Y2 danced to Waka Waka sung by Shakira a singer from Columbia.

                           Y3 performed on their ukuleles the song Spirit in the Sky. The song choice was really enjoyed by the parents!

                                     Y5 accompanied The Wellerman with chair drumming. It is a folk song from New Zealand telling the story of a whaling ship and its adventures trying to harpoon a whale. The children were very familiar with the song as it became an internet sensation during the pandemic when it was famously sung by a postman. 

            Y5 also performed a piece on the djembe drums. The drums originate from West Africa.

               Year 6 performed a gum boot dance they composed themselves. This dance was a way of slaves conversing down the goldmines, it has become a popular traditional dance in South Africa.

They also buddied up with reception to sing Akeelie , also a call and response song from Africa. 

           The outdoor  festival was so popular that we hope to carry on the tradition next year!

                                                                      Summer 1  

       This term the theme throughout school is World Music and Dance. All classes will be learning a song or a dance to perform at the summer music festival. We hope to perform outside for the parents.

Y1 is enjoying listening to samba music composed by Sergio Mendes. They will be learning to samba dance.

Y2 have been finding out about the history of the ocarina invented in Italy. They are learning a dance to Waka Waka by Shakira. The chorus is a based on a chant from Camaroon.

Y3 are learning a ukulele song to perform and are appraising Mariachi music from Mexico.

Y4 are finding out the history behind Bhangra dancing and will be composing their own dance to perfom.

Y5 are finding out about sea shanties from New Zealand and learning The Wellerman. They will compose a dance to perform. They will also be learning a piece to perform on the djembe drums.

Y6 are finding out the history behind gum boot dancing from Africa and will be performing their own.

Year 5 drumming 

                                        Links with Ralph Thoresby High School

           Luke Robinson, Head of music ,brought two sixth form students to spend time in each class introducing themselves and telling the children about a community festival that is being held at Ralph Thoresby on the 9th of July.  Families are invited to enjoy the day and Y5 children have been asked to perform pieces on the djembe drums.

They showcased their talent on the drums to our visitors with great team work and  excellent organisation. 

      A music student performed  a song she had composed herself.

                                      Learning Bhangra Dancing from our Experts-

                                       Nek, Ayaan, Harpreet and Jovan

                  These 4 children have experience of dancing to Bhangra music at weddings and parties. They showed us a few moves!

                                                            Tabla drums

                Jovan brought in his tabla drums to show us. We talked about what they are made of and compared pitches. We all agreed the smaller one had a higher pitch. He said his Grandma plays them to accompany Bhangra music. Nek and Ayyan had a go at showing us how to play them and chose children to have a go.

                                                    Learning this half term........

Y4 are aiming to recognise and play notes CD and E. Also to know a crochet from a quaver. They are composing their own melodies using these 3 notes on the glockenspiel.

       Y5 are learning to recognise the 5 notes of the pentatonic scale in C major- CDEGA.

The children are aiming to also recognise quavers, crotchets, minims and semi - breves.

They are beginning to write stave notation.

                                                                         Spring 2

                  The children have been appraising popular music from musicals and TV.  Y1 sang their hearts out to `Let it Go` from Frozen, Y4 enjoyed learning Circle of Life from the Lion King. They found out how the costumes were designed and brought to life. Y5 found out about the band Abba and appraised Mama Mia from the musical. Y6 listened to the Doctor Who theme tune and made up their own TV theme tunes on ipads.

  Live Interactive Music Workshop - Maia

         Y5 and Y6 thoroughly enjoyed singing, moving , clapping and tapping their feet to the band Maia, who came into school to perform and engage the children in listening and  ryhthm games  and joining in call and response folk songs .

They also demonstrated how to play the cajon drum  from peru the banjo which derived from the Carribean  and the  tongue drum from Africa. 

                       Y5 have been learning stave notation. The children were asked to make up a melody using  any two notes. They were asked to play crochets and quavers in their composition.

                                                              Spring 1 2022

        KS1 and KS2 have been listening and responding to Soul music including  Motown Sounds such as Marvin Gaye in Y5  and Stevie Wonder in Y1. The children walked into singing assembly to Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder- Y1 `s eyes lit up when they recognised the song and could join in in the chorus! Y4 learnt to sing Lean on Me by the Godfather of Soul- Bill Withers.

They practised hard on the glockenspiels to play the instrumental to accompany the song.

The children have been finding out about what texture means in music. We likened it to the layers in a sandwich to help us to remember!

                           Here`s Y4 singing their hearts out to Lean on Me

                   Evie and Alexandar composed a melody on the ipad using 3 notes. The class have been finding out how many beats there are in a crochet, minim and a semibreve.

                                                    Autumn 2 2021

                                       What have children been learning in music?

      The genre of music this half term has been 60s Rock and Pop. Y1 and Y2 listened and responded to In an Ooctopus` Garden  by the Beatles and Don`t Worry about a Thing by Stevie Wonder.  Y3 found out facts about Elvis Presley and responded to Jailhouse Rock. The class continue have ukulele lessons  and  performed Feliz Navidad at the Christmas Festive Concert. Y4 appraised R.E.S.P.E.C.T  BY Aretha Franklin and found out facts about her life. They were interested in her fight for civil rights. Y5 appraised Feeling Good by Nina Simone and were interested to find out facts about her. Y6 appraised `You Really Got Me `by the Kinks.

The music dimension studied this half term is the structure of a song- or how it is built. Ks2 learnt words such as coda, instrumental, scat, ostinato etc Ks1 learnt that songs can have verses and a chorus. 

            Links with Ralph Thoresby High School

           Links have been made  between Adel Primary and Ralph Thoresby High School.  The head of music- Luke Robinson- offered to come into school to do a workshop with Y6. Unfortunately this was postponed due to Covid numbers. This will be rearranged for Spring 2. 

                                      
                                                       
                                                                  Christmas

     Christmas took the form of a Festive Christmas Concert this year with 2 classes performing togther and one parent per famiy permitted due to Covid restrictions. The videos were posted on the Adel website.

   Y3 performed on their ukuleles, Y4 sang their hearts out to Jingle Bell Rock and played a piece on the glockenspiel with Miss Saxton. Y5 performed Away in a Manger in different languages- Amelie, Romany and Ella singing a verse in French, Alexander singing in German , the whole class in Spanish and English. Haley accompanied on the violin and Aashaz and Yuvi on the guitar. They performed a body percussion piece to Jingle Bells. Y6 did a short play and sang their hearts out to Santa Clause is Coming.  Although Christmas was a low key affair it was a thoroughly enjoyable and the children had a wonderful time singing Christmas songs in the last week of the term in singing assembly.

                                                    Autumn 1 2021

                                       Singing Assembly and Harvest Festival

                    We are now back in the hall together doing what the children love- singing together for our singing assemblies on a Wednesday morning. The children are practising hard for Harvest Festival to be held on October 8th. To keep us all safe the children are being recorded singing Harvest Samba and Conkers, a new song for KS1. Both songs are lively and fun.

                                                        SingUp Day Digichoir

       Finally the digichoir is on youtube to see our children singing the SingUp day song `Unstoppable`. Spot Year 2 who made it on to the video. Well done to them!!

                                     See the children singing on this link          

                       Sing Up Day 2021 Digichoir - '(We are) Unstoppable' - YouTube

                       What have children been learning in Music?

   This half term the music dimension children have been learning about is dynamics.

    In KS2 the children have been showing their understanding of the words crescendo, diminuendo, forte, piano, fortissimo and pianissimo though clapping. 

          What genre of music have the children been responding to?

      The children in KS1 and KS2 have been enjoying listening to classical music such as Claire de Lune by  Claude Debussy in Y1 , Romantic music such as Night on a Bare Mountain by Modest  Mussorgsky in Y3 and orchestral music such as Mars Bringer of War by Gustav Holst in Y4.

Y4,5 and 6 responded to the music by composing their own body percussion pieces. Y6 performed Beethoven`s 5th Symphony in C major for their class assembly and Y5 performed  to Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg. Classes have found out facts about the composer`s lives and learnt how  the culture of the countries have influenced the music they composed. Y4 composed their own body percussion in groups using Mars Bringer of War as inspiration.

                                   Body percussion pieces inspired by space performed by Y4

                    Y5 performing their body percussion

                     piece to Hall of the Mountain  King   

                                                The piece took lots of practise!!

                                                         Summer 2 2021

  This term we are now allowed to sing in our class bubbles!  The children are looking forward

to celebrating SingUp Day on the 30th June.

All classes are learning to sing `I am Unstoppable`. The song inspires us to think about about the messages of hope the rainbows brought us during the ever changing pandemic. The words of the song also talk about standing up and speaking up about what is important to the children such as climate change and Black Lives Matter.

The children sing all the colours of the rainbow in the Spectrum song and the chorus of `Get Back Up Again` by Anna Hendrick from the Troll movie.

                                       SingUp Day Digichoir performance July 2021

     Each class performed one verse or chorus each. Mr Thompson edited the video so the whole school sang the song `together but apart`

  It was wonderful to see the children put so much energy into the song and we hope to perform it all together in September.

The video of all the children in each country who contributed to the digichoir will come out in September. We can`t wait to spot ourselves!

On the SingUp website it said - `around 18,427 singers joining in from over 190 schools across 15 countries and 5 continents, we were blown away by all the different ways people got involved this year.`

                                                            Summer 1 2021

The music focus this half term is world music and dance. Reception are enjoying singing and moving to  Senwa Dedende from Ghana. Y1 and Y2 are discovering samba music from Brazil.

Y3 and Y4 have been excited to find out about Bhangra music from the Punjab region in India.

Y5 and Y6 have enjoyed learning where sea shanties originated and learning to sing and dance to  the Wellerman. They found out the song is about a whaling boat.

The music dimension the children are studying in KS2 is notation. Y3 ,4, 5 and 6 are learning to recognise crochets, quavers , minims and rests. Some children are learning notes C, D and E while others are progressing to notes C D E F and G. They are learning to play a simple tune on the glockenspiel and some are progressing by making up their own 3 or 5 note melodies.

                                                      Bhangra Dancing Y4 

                     Bhangra originates from the Punjab region in India, the farm workers celebrated 

the harvest with dohl drums and various other traditional indian instruments. Modern Bhangra music includes electric guitars and modern western drums. The children learnt about  traditional and modern bhangra and performed their own Bhangra dance for other classes in the playground - in the sunshine!

             Yuvi,  Aashaz, Clara and Atharva wore traditional indian clothes to perform the dance. 

                                                                    Spring 2 

               This half term the musical word we are finding out about is `pitch`.  

The children in Y4 and Y5 have been making up their own melodies using the C major pentatonic scale. In Y2 the children have been investigating stringed instruments such as the ukulele and the guitar to find out how the pitch of the strings can be changed by tightening and loosening the strings. They also investigated boomwackers and found out the shorter the tube the higher the sound.

                                                               Spring 1 (Lockdown 2021)

           Lock down hasn`t stopped our musical learning at Adel Primary School!

The genre of study this term  for KS 1 and KS2 is Rhythm and Blues music. KS 2 have been  finding out about the life of Bill Withers.  They have been  listening to and appraising `Lean on Me`. The children found out  he was raised in a coal mining town in West Virginia in America. Growing up here inspired him to write this song.

The children have also been discovering Motown music and such artists as Martha and the Vandellas and The Four Tops. 

The whole school musical dimension the children are studying is `texture`. KS2 have enjoyed listening  to sound tracks written by John Williams ( Imperial March and Hedwig`s Theme ) and  Beethoven`s 5th symphony to discover how the composers use texture to create excitement and special effects.

Home learning has also included composing a song. The children showed incredible  enthusiasm and imagination for this project. Here are some examples from Y4 and Y5. 

                                    Rapunzel- the lockdown pantomime December 2020

              The whole school enjoyed Rapunzel streamed live by the Norfolk Music Hub. The project featured six songs to sing along to and with accompanying resources supplied by the Sing Along Company. 

Teacher and children`s comments about the show--                                                                                     Y6 ` it was fantastic and the children really enjoyed it and laughed at many of the jokes.`

     Y5  ` I was having a meeting in the office and I could hear all the fun and laughter coming from the classrooms!`

                                         Christmas Round the World 2020

            This year is Christmas with a difference but still with lots of fun! There isn`t the usual concert in the hall but  each class has chosen a Christmas song from another country to perform under  the twinkling lights of our oudoor Christmas tree. As a treat for all their hard work the children will be served  hot chocolate.  The songs will be posted on the class pages for parents to enjoy.

The countries we are celebrating and finding out about  are the U.S.A. , Africa, Hawaii, Spain, New Zealand and England.

   Exciting News ! Adel Primary school is now a Music Mark school

                                           Autumn 2020

 `Adel Primary  has been nominated and financially supported by your local Music Service/Hub to become a Music Mark School. They have recognised the value that you place on music and asked us to add you to the growing number of Music Mark Schools.`

                             No Singing, No Problem!  Autumn 1 2020

            No Singing No Problem!   Autumn 1 2020

                     This term classes are unable to sing due to the present Covid situation. However the children are not deterred from making music!  The children are having lots of fun by accompanying music with  body percussion and singing through sign language. 

As part of our Harvest festival this week the children are signing the song` Let`s Harvest ` from SingUp using Makaton sign language.

Y5 are enjoying experimenting using body  percussion to accompany the song` We will Rock You` by Queen. 

   Autumn 1 Y5 have enjoyed using their body as an instrument!

       Y5 have been studying the Victorians as their topic this half term. They studied photographs of Victorian children playing games such as hoola hoop and marbles. They used the photographs to inspire the words to their compositions then added body percussion to the piece. The music focus this half term is dynamics. The children thought about how they could add crescendos, diminuendos, fortissimo (loud) sounds and pianissiomo (very quiet) sounds.

                       Modest Mussorgsky- a great composer

          The children in Years 3,4,5 and 6  listened very carefully to the piece A Night on a Bare Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky, a great Russian composer from the Romantic era. Some children designed information posters so other people can find out some facts about him and his wonderful music.

                                               The SingUp digichoir has arrived! 6/09/20

                                                                                                                                                                           With over 200 events worldwide in 26 countries, 2020’s celebration was a real record-breaker! On 11th March 2020 Adel Primary School along with  thousands of singers across the world came together to sing There's a power in the music. This year's song was about the empowering nature of coming together in song, it proved that there really is a 'power in the music'

Who took part in Sing Up Day?

5 continents
26 countries
201 events worldwide
289 schools
48045 singer

See the link  https://www.singup.org/blog/article/1437-the-sing-up-day-digichoir-is-here/ 

                                 Home Activities during  lockdown Spring 2- Summer 2 2020

                     Children are able to access the website Charanga for music activities. Lessons are compiled according to topics and music dimensions such as beat and rhythm for KS1 and notation and composing using the 5 notes of the pentatonic scale in KS 2. Inspiration was taken from current events such as the launching of SpaceX- the children enjoyed activities and music such as David Bowie`s Ground Control to Major Tom and singing 5 Little Aliens in KS1. Ks2 enjoyed finding about John Williams who composed the theme tune to Star Wars ( May 4th be with you!). Some children enjoyed accessing the virtual piano online and others played the piano using the garageband app. Some children composed music using loops on garageband too.  Children in KS2 also  made fact files about Mozart and listened to his twelve versions of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. 

In KS1 children enjoyed singing about birds and listening out for the robin bird song in the garden. Children also sang about food-`Food Glorious Food` and some children in Ks1 had fun making   some lovely fruit faces. Well done to all the children who enjoyed music at home! 

11 March 2020  was Singup Day. It  is one of the biggest events in our music calendar.                                                                                         It unites children from all over the world in song. We look forward to the arrival of the digichoir so we can glimpse ourselves singing along with all the other children.

         Y5 composing a `musical sandwich` based on the theme of weather     March 2020 

            The children`s compositions begin and end in the same way but have something interesting in the middle! They came up with all sorts of ideas.

                                 Garageband Workshop and Training for Staff

                             and KS2 Children 6/11/19

Today we welcomed Ben Sellers, a technology specialist , to provide fun and interactive workshops to teach KS2 children and staff how to improvise, compose and perform using the app garageband on the ipads. The workshops demonstrated how everyone has a musical ability to  produce exciting sounds and rhythms both musically and vocally.

Year 5 enjoyed producing rhythms and beginning to write their own lyrics to a song.

Staff comments about children`s participation 

`There was such a happy vibe in the classroom`

`The children were so supportive of each other`

`There were no dominating children`

`It brought timid children out of their shell`

`One child overcame a stutter and spoke clearly into the microphone`

` One boy who is not interested academically was very engaged as he thought it was such a cool thing to do`

`There was such a keenness to share`

` It gave enormous confidence to children (and staff) who felt they weren`t musically inclined`

LSMA Christmas Festival concert- Tue 3 December 2019
Victoria Hall

Eight children from Y5 sang their hearts out at the LSMA Christmas Festival Concert last night. They had worked hard attending rehearsals ready for their debut performance on the wonderful stage at Leeds Town Hall. It was such a great way to start Christmas and was  an opportunity to hear festive music sung and played by over 300 children from Leeds primary schools and City of Leeds instrumental and vocal youth music groups.

The audience and children`s favourite,  Rockin` Around the Christmas Tree was the highlight of the evening. It was an evening the children will look back on with great memories.

                                             Y3 and Y4 Christmas Concert 2019

The children did a wonderful performance playing trumpets, flutes, ukuleles, guitars, glockenspiels, piano and a showcase of garageband backing tracks. They had great fun singing Christmas songs looking very festive in Christmas jumpers and hats.

                                                 Christmas Choir 2019 

                                       The   Choir sang  at  the Christmas dinner  for OPAL ( Older People`s Action in Leeds) at their newly opened Welcome In Community Centre. Mrs. Early and Mrs Shutt held weekly choir sessions where the children enjoyed learning new Christmas songs ready for their eagerly awaited performance. The children chatted to their audience and received well earned juice and biscuits.

    Have a look at all the events that took place in school last         school year 2018/2019

                                                 Singing Assemblies 2019

The children have been accompanied by a variety of genres of music while entering and leaving the hall for singing assembly. 

They have enjoyed la Bamba by the Gypsy Kings, The Push Bike Song by Mungo Jerry, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald singing Summertime as well as a variety of other pieces including classical pieces in Autumn 1. Some children have shown musical appreciation outside school. Favourites are George Ezra and Deep Purple`s Smoke on the Water.

                                                     Musical Events at Pudsey Town Hall

In Spring 2, Y1  participated in a Musical Adventure put on by Artforms. Y3 participated in the `Big Play` where they performed along with 6 other schools on their ukulele, taught by Alex Cairns in their weekly ukulele lessons. Y5 had a super time performing on the Samba drums and percussion instruments with other participating schools.

In Spring 1 Y5 attended a `Discover the Piano` event to find out more about piano. They were also treated to a `Discover the Piano` workshop to find out about the workings and science of the piano. School were given fabulous resources with lots of extra curricular activities to link with the piano.

                                                Yorkshire Bike Tour Welcome

The children sang and danced along to `Life Gets Better on a Bike` in the playground to welcome the children and staff from Rawdon Littlemoor Primary School as they rode into school to pass on the baton to ten children from Adel Primary. The group cycled out to Mungo Jerry`s Push Bike Song.

                                                        Music Celebration Evening 12/07/19

Children from all year groups, have worked with enthusiasm all year with our dedicated peripatetic music teachers. The children showcased their talents on cellos, violins, trumpets, flutes, clarinets, guitars and ukuleles. Parents and teachers were impressed to see how much progress the children have made since the beginning of the year from complete beginners to our more advanced players.

                                       Samba Workshop and Performance Y5 12/07/19

Y5 have worked with incredible enthusiasm with Tim Brain from `Louder than Life` Mrs Outram and Mrs Gillespie to master Samba drumming ready for a performance at Pudsey Civic Hall. The children`s favourite instrument were the booming serdo drums. They also enjoyed playing rhythms on the agogos, tamrins and ganzas. The powerful performance at Pudsey Civic Hall was a memorable experience for the children and staff alike. We can`t wait to continue all the rhythm work next year.

 

  Watch the Singup digichoir to see Adel Primary`s contribution to Singup Day, singing`One Moment, One People`,  along with 30 other countries from around the world.

https://www.singup.org/news-local-events/news-article/view/1363-one-moment-one-people-and-one-massed-choir/

                                                    Update on ocarina progress! July 2019

Y2 proudly performed London`s Burning in a round  and Kumbaya for their parents at the class assembly with Mr Thompson. The children have also mastered Twinkle Twinkle, Yankee Doodle, Happy Birthday, Old Macdonald and are currently practising Claire de Lune. They have learnt how to play quietly and loudly, a tonguing technique to produce a clear sound and have done lots of beat and rhythm work on the ocarinas and percussion instruments. 

 In January this term Y2 were introduced to the ocarina ( meaning `little goose`) This is a  small round shaped flute which is actually thousands of years old, typically made of ceramic or clay. Nowadays it is made of plastic in bright colours and is ideal for small fingers as there are only 4 holes to manage. 

The Y2 ocarina band have already mastered Twinkle Twinkle Little Star along with a ukulele backing track. They are always very eager for their ocarina lesson on a Thursday with Mrs Outram.

Y3 had a wonderful experience participating in the Piano Fantasia performance at Leeds Town Hall. The children found it informative, entertaining and very engaging.

Olivia " I liked the tunes , some were happy, some sad. It was really nice the way they played the piano because they were all different and unique and really interesting"

Ellis "I like it when he pushes the pedals and it gets loud and soft"

Shaam "I liked the end when they played the piano together and the mayoress started dancing"

Y4 learnt how to play the `musical sticks` called claves (the word "clave"refers to the round hardwood stick used as a percussion instrument in tropical latin music,Afro-Cuban, salsa, merengue, cha cha etc) for Stick Week. They learnt how to play the 2-3 son, which is the back backbone to all tropical or Cuban rhythms. 

In June Y3 are  going to a Ukulele extravaganza also at the Town Hall. They are learning pieces with their Ukulele teacher ready to join in. They enjoy their lessons each Friday afternoon.

Year 2 have been learning to play the glockenspiel this term through the music website Charanga. They have been learning the notes B G E A and learning the terms `dynamics` (loud and soft) , tempo ( fast or slow) and pulse ( the heartbeat of the song). 

The children have enjoyed finding the pulse using tambourines, drums and clapping. 

Rishi brought his electric piano in today so he could also accompany us. 

We had great fun!

The children are also enjoying appraising different genres of music. Today we listened to Thus Spake  Zarathustra by Richard Strauss. This is actually the famous piece of music from the film Star Wars. It was very popular! The children also spotted the harp in Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Samba drumming trip

On the 11 of July 2017, Year 5 went on a trip to Pudsey Civic Hall for an amazing samba drumming workshop. There were 5 schools with just below 150 children who participated. We had two workshops with Dan, who was our samba instructor. He taught us two pieces of music. The first piece was called the “hip hop groove”, which was our solo piece, as well as “the power of the music” which we played with four other schools. It was super loud and hurt our ears! However, we really enjoyed trying out all the instruments and learning different grooves. Year 5 had an amazing time using the instruments and wore exhilarated smiles the whole way home. “ It took a lot of hard work and me and the class were very lively and excited!” said Omar afterwards. “We practiced for 2 months until this day finally came. We never gave up our progress and kept going no matter what happened!” agreed Amr. A huge well done to all of Year 5 who performed with confidence and made the accompanying staff feel very proud!

As part of Arts week, we composed our own musical pieces based on the theme of Spring. Then we performed them to the class-can you spot your picture above? 

Sing Up Day 

                             `Music can change the world` Beethoven

      How does Adel Primary School provide a stimulating musical learning journey?

                                                          2019/2020

Singing Assembly

The children walk in to different genres of music such as pop/salsa- Gloria Estefan  singing `Conga`, jazz-Louis Armstrong singing `It`s a Wonderful World` or pop-The Christians singing `Harvest of the World` and classical- The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivalsdi. The children answer quiz questions about the era the music came from and facts about the composer. 

Listening to Music in Detail

The children appraise a selection of music in class throughout the year. They listen to classical, reggae, salsa, African, jazz,pop world and rock music. They give opinions to say if they like the music and why. They listen to understand the dynamics, tempo and structure. They pick out instruments they can hear. 

Learning a Variety of Instruments from Y2 to Y6

Year 2 learn the ocarina which is a small plastic flute with 4 small holes for little hands. It is very popular and the children pick up tunes very fast so they have quite a repertoire by the end of the year. The children begin to learn to read music in Y2  and they progress throughout each year group on different instruments to embed their musical learning. They show off their skills in a class assembly at the end of the year. 

Year 3 learn the ukulele. They learn songs ready to perform at the end of the year in the `Big Play` held at the Town Hall.  Children from schools all over Leeds gather to play together. A wide variety of instruments are played such as guitar and percussion instruments. It`s an amazing experience for the children to meet and play with other performers. 

Year 4 learn to play  the glockenspiel with Mrs Outram. Musical dimensions,names of notes,duration of notes, beat and rhythm are embedded. The children learn to play simple tunes. 

Year 5 continue to learn to play the glockenspiel. They continue to embed learning using the website Charanga. They continue to play simple tunes embedding musical dimensions, notes and melodies. The class also have the wonderful experience of learning to play the samba drums.  Mrs Outram and Mrs Gillespie have had samba drum training which will continue in 2020. The children have samba drum lessons in  Spring 2 and Summer 1 ready to perform at either the Town Hall or the Leeds Arena. It`s an experience the children will never forget!

Year 6 learn to play the glockenspiel and have the chance to sing in the choir. They will sing a selection of exciting  Christmas at the Town Hall concert  after rehearsing at Pudsey Ciivic Hall .They will also have the chance to sing carols  at the OPAL Christmas lunch.

 Choir

Children in Y5 and Y6 can choose to join a choir held on a Thursday lunch time with Mrs Earley and Mrs Shutt.

The Children Can Choose to Learn Another Instrument

Peripatetic music teachers come in to school and teach groups of children the guitar, flute, clarinet, violin and cello. They perform at a musical evening at the end of the year to showcase their skills.

Musical Events

Harvest Assembly

Each year volunteers from the Food Bank come to talk to the children about how contributions of food are distributed. The parents are invited to join our Harvest celebration. This year the children sang Harvest Samba, Welcome to the Harvest and of course Cauliflowers Fluffy.

Sing Up Day

Throughout the year there are whole school events where the children sing together.  Sing Up Day is a community based celebration where members of OPAL  are invited to share the experience with the children. Our visitors are served tea and cake by the children during which everyone enjoys chatting and finding out about each other.

Faith Celebrations

The children enjoy participating in  singing to celebrate each others important festivals such as Divali, Christmas and Easter etc

Successful singing and making music is important because it builds self-confidence, promotes self -esteem, always engages the emotions and promotes social inclusion.

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     Big Play

Children in Y3 participate in a performance at Pudsey Town Hall each year with other schools. It`s a wonderful experience for the children to join in and produce one big ukulele sound. The children work hard with their ukulele teacher to learn  the songs before the event.

Samba Drumming 

Children in Y5 participate in a samba performance sometimes held at the Leeds Arena or Pudsey Town Hall. It`s a vibrant exciting event for children and parents to watch. The children practise for weeks with their teacher and have workshops from Artforms.

Y1 Musical Adventure

Y1 have a wonderful time immersing themselves in fun with music at Pudsey Town Hall.

Piano Fantasia

This is a wonderful event for Y4 held at the Town Hall to discover the piano. The children also find out about the piano using the informative resources provided by Artforms.

Sing Up Day 

This community event is held each year with members form OPAL ( Older Peopl`s Action in Leeds). Children welcome members with tea and cakes before celebrating singing with children from other schools from all around the world. We now have links with OPAL who are keen to share their memories with the children.

Summer and Christmas Concerts

A celebration of the children`s progress and achievements is held twice a year. Children showcase their talents in cello, violin, trumpet, ukulele, piano, clarinet, garageband and singing!