The Music Department are a passionate, experienced and enthusiastic team of individuals who combine their range of experiences to offer an engaging and enriching curriculum. As a team, we are dedicated to enriching the lives of the students and rigorously ensure lessons spark interest, develop knowledge and challenge students to achieve their full potential. Students are challenged in all lessons to be able to demonstrate understanding and creativity through listening, performance, composition, through collaboration with their peers and through evaluation of their work. The Head of Department is Steve Hyden, who joined the Wilnecote School in 2014. He has taught music from Primary through to A Level, worked as a music therapist and spent 10 years working in the media as music programmer and content advisor for several radio stations across the country as well as broadcasting in music radio and TV. Mr Hyden is also Head of Year 8.

Music at The Wilnecote School is a creative, practical subject, which provides opportunities for our students to develop a broad range of subject knowledge, skills and understanding. As well as consistently guiding students to excellent music results in GCSE and as Music Practitioners, the Music Department provides many opportunities for students to perform and share their talents with the school, parents and carers and the wider community, this builds on their performance skills and also helps to develop their confidence and understanding as musicians.

We value a calm, purposeful atmosphere within the department, and have high expectations that students should enjoy working to the best of their abilities.

In line with the key recommendations in the National Plan for Music Education DfE Document, all key stage 3 students receive one hour of timetabled music curriculum per week.

National Plan for Music Education: Key Recommendations

• Timetabled curriculum music of at least one hour each week of the school year for Key Stages 1-3
• Provide access to lessons across a range of instruments and voice.
• Develop a school choir and/or vocal ensemble.
• Develop a school ensemble/band/group.
• Provide space for rehearsals and individual practice.
• Develop a termly school performance.
• Provide opportunities to enjoy live performances at least one a year.
• Ensure music lessons are delivered by a designated music lead and ideally a music specialist.
• Ensure that singing is a core element in the provision
• Produce and implement a high-quality music curriculum by adopting the Model Music Curriculum (2021) or implementing a
• curriculum that is at least comparable in breadth and ambition
• Work in partnership with the local music hub and other providers.
• As a school, highlight progression opportunities for children to access ensembles in the wider community provided by the
• music hub and their partners.

The Music Department consists of two large equipped classrooms and a third classroom housing a set of computers and laptops running the Cubase composing software. In addition, there are several practice rooms as well as a recording suite. All students have access to keyboards, ukuleles and a range of percussion instruments as well as a range of acoustic instruments and professional recording equipment. As well as the Head of the Music, there is one other teacher as well as a team of peripatetic teachers of voice, brass, strings, woodwind, piano, guitar and drums, all are supported by a music technician throughout the week.

We have a healthy uptake of music at GCSE and our instrumental tuition is becoming more successful with many students continuing to learn an instrument throughout their time at school.

We believe that students deserve a broad and ambitious music curriculum, rich in skills and knowledge. Our curriculum will give students the opportunity to:

• Develop a thorough understanding of music, through performing, composing, listening and analysing.
• Develop self-confidence through performance, both through lessons and extra-curricular participation.
• Encourage creativity through composition skills.
• Understand the complexities of music through analysis of a wide range of genres from different musical and cultural perspectives.
• Encourage personal development through ensemble performances and group compositions.
• Understand how music can support the development of life skills, such as confidence, self-awareness, perseverance and discipline.
• Develop their cross-curricular skills of problem solving, perseverance, diligence, teamwork, time management, responsibility and cultural history.

The department was delighted to receive the ‘Excellence in Music’ Gold Award from the Music Partnership. The Partnership is a group of the region’s leading quality music education providers; they receive funding from the DofE via the Arts Council England to deliver the National Plan for Music Education. The Partnership covers the local authority areas of Staffordshire, Stoke on Trent and Telford & Wrekin. The award lasts for three years before re-inspection.