Secondary School Music is going places

The Secondary Music department saw a complete turnover of classroom teaching staff at the start of the academic year in 2014, with Miss Andrews and Mr Crichton both joining the school for the first time. A year later, it is worth taking the time to reflect on the significant successes of the last academic year, and it’s all set to be onwards and upwards in the year ahead.

Since joining Regents, we have been so pleased with the musical achievements of the students and thank them for their participation.  A number of significant events and changes in that last year have meant that our Music team here at Regents is not only growing in its ambitions, but also in its ability to meet the demand for excellence which we see as a characteristic of all teaching and learning across the school.

Bigger and Better:     

Our department has been growing rapidly, and as a consequence the standards we can achieve in teaching and learning are getting higher and higher. We’ve also seen some welcome developments in the form of the improved facilities and learning environment in the Secondary Music department. The students’ Instrumental Program has increased by 120%, our GCSE and IB class sizes have grown and the students have achieved excellent results, with 100% of students achieving A*-B at GCSE level. In the past year we also had 4 Nord Anglia Open Mic winners and a 100% pass rate in ABRSM music examinations. All things we are extremely proud of as a department.

Opportunity Knocks (Or Sings):

Across the school, we’ve seen a marked increase in the performance opportunities available to our students, and in the student’s enthusiasm and willingness to take up these opportunities. There has been improvement and increases in the student performances in assemblies. Participation has more than doubled in both the Christmas and Summer Concerts, as well as in the numerous extra-curricular music activities on offer. We’ve seen original music being written by our students featured in school concerts and performances, and recently we saw both Primary and Secondary students participating in the annual Remembrance Assemblies.

The Future is Bright:

After such a stellar start to our time at Regents, both Mr Crichton and I are looking forward to the coming academic year, we have so many exciting opportunities and events planned, in the next few months. A number of things we are looking forward to in the coming term include the continued rollout of the embedded music curriculum, and the Juilliard Creative Classroom being further populated with resources. We are seeing the Secondary production of Alice in Wonderland this week, a collaborative project in which all the Year 10 and 12 musicians have composed or arranged all the music and will perform it live every night of the show. This is a true milestone for Regents and something we can all celebrate. We are also looking toward the annual Loy Krathong celebrations in school this Friday, and finally, the Secondary Christmas Concert, a fantastic family event and yet another opportunity for our young musicians to shine.

Onwards and Upwards

In Terms 2 and 3, our students are set to take part in the Bucket Drumming Challenge through the Global Campus, as well as the Nord Anglia Open Mic Competition. We look forward to the ever popular Secondary Summer Concert, as well as to two planned Juilliard Alumni visits and a 2nd and 3rd visit from Kathryn Andersen. We are also planning a Secondary busking week, weekly recitals, a Picnic in the Park, and some stellar performances at the upcoming Graduation ceremony, the Battle of the Bands Secondary House competition and the annual Prize giving ceremonies.

As always, it is important to recognise the outstanding efforts of the students themselves, as without them, there could not have been so many successes in the past term. 

Article by Emily Andrews, Head of Secondary Music