Music plays an integral role at Kew House School and is inclusive for all students and abilities.
The Music department is a central part of life at Kew House School. All pupils have weekly curriculum lessons in year 7 and 8 and can then opt for Eduqas GCSE, Eduqas A-level, or BTEC courses. Students also engage with the department by taking part in an array of extra-curricular activities, through individual instrumental lessons, or participating in our concerts as a musician or audience member.
The Music department consists of four teachers of curriculum music, a music assistant, and a team of around twenty visiting instrumental teachers. There is a music suite with 12 computers with software including Sibelius and Cubase and three practice rooms, alongside the main teaching room and the theatre space.
Singing is a particular passion and strength of Kew House School. All children sing regularly in curriculum music lessons in year 7 as a way of developing musicianship, notation reading, and understanding musical elements. A highlight of the annual Christmas carol service, hosted by a local church, is the whole year 7 massed choir accompanied by a small orchestra. This welcomes year 7s into the department and celebrates their first term in the school and inspires many pupils to join the Junior Choir as an extra-curricular activity.
As well as the Junior Choir, the collection of vocal ensembles includes a large Senior Choir which have demonstrated versatility by performing music varying from the Bohemian Rhapsody to Mozart and Rachmaninov. Senior students also come together in smaller groups to form vocal ensembles or perform as soloists.
We are proud to give all year 7 pupils lessons with specialist teachers on violin, clarinet, and trombone, which we call the ‘El Sistema’ programme. During their weekly curriculum lesson, all pupils participate in a 30 minute lesson in a small group for a term, rotating between instruments, as we believe learning an instrument is an important part of music education. Many pupils choose to continue with one of these instruments in year 8 and beyond by joining one of the junior instrumental ensembles: string ensemble, brass ensemble or woodwind ensemble.
The collection of weekly extra-curricular music groups includes:
- Junior instrumental ensembles: Strings, Brass and Woodwind
- Junior Choir and Senior Choir
- Soul Bands
- Rock Bands
- Jazz Band
- Classical Guitar Ensemble
- Flute Group
- Baroque Chamber Ensemble, for advanced instrumentalists
We offer a full range of instrumental music lessons in school with visiting music tutors. All lessons take place at lunchtimes or after school between 4-6pm to minimise any disruption to other academic subjects. There are also trips to concerts, workshops, and conferences, and talks from visiting specialists.