Welcome to Highfield Priory

Out And About With The Headmaster

On Wednesday morning, I visited a music lesson with a group of Year 3 pupils. The focus of the lesson was on the composition of a piece of music. The lesson started with Miss Macklam playing a piece of music on the xylophone and asking the children what country they thought it might come from. All the children shot their hands into the air and Tom said that it came from China. George, who is always observant, quickly added that he knew it was from China because he had heard it in a Chinese restaurant. Miss Macklam explained that the music followed the Petatonic Scale and always finished on a C. The pupils listened intently and enjoyed having a go, using the scale to compose their own piece of music. The children then discussed how they could compose a piece of music which sounded like a train. Alex and Ryan came up with different instruments that they could use, talking knowledgeably about a range of instruments. They then split into groups to compose their piece of music on the instrument of their choice. I was impressed by their teamwork, their ability to listen to each other’s ideas and the encouragement that they gave to each other when one of them came up with a good idea. Mack, Ismaeel, George and Oscar were particularly good at discussing the project in hand and coming up with solutions. The lesson ended with the class performing their compositions. It was very rewarding to see the children get a real sense of achievement out of trying to compose their own music. They left chatting happily about what they had just been doing and looking forward to their next period in the Library and then in Public Speaking, Elocution and Drama.

Mr J. Duke