Chiddingstone Church of England School
Educating for life in all its fullness - John 10:10
Music lessons
Music is taught within our Cornerstones Creative Curriculum. For example, Year 1 'Rio de Vida', Year 2 'Beat, Band, Boogie', and Year 4 'Playlist'. Please see Creative Curriculum page for more information.
Musical Chidd
Music in the wider curriculum at Chiddingstone Church of England School continues to thrive and contributes to the cultural opportunities our children experience with so much going on during the week, as well as special events happening throughout the year.
In 2021-2022, we had 43% of pupils learning a musical instrument at Chiddingstone, with the most popular being the violin and piano. Flute, guitar and singing are also taught throughout the week. We have a music room especially devoted to the music lessons throughout the week.
Music is not just about learning an instrument. All children are involved in singing and enjoy performing their vocal skills in Acts Of Worship, special services, music lessons and summer productions. Even during the Covid year, 2020, we were still able to enjoy group singing in socially distanced bubbles and ensure that there were still music opportunities for all.
A highlight for the school has been obtaining The Music Mark Award, by Kent Music: “We have recognised your commitment to, and the value that you place on music.” Please look out for the logo on our homepage.
THE SUMMER PRODUCTION is the big event of the year (in July) where the whole school take an active part in acting, singing and dancing to our Musical Performance. Previous plays have been:
2012 – Oliver Twist
2013 – The Jungle Book
2014 – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
2015 – Peter Pan
2016 – The Wizard of Oz
2017 - Mary Poppins
2018 - Charlie and The Chocolate Factory
2019 - Robin Hood
2020- Sadly did not take place due to Covid-19
2021- A Midsummer Night's Dream
2022 - Mary Poppins
The orchestra do a fantastic job at accompanying all the acting, singing, dancing and musical cues. It is performed on our outdoor stage and a wonderful experience for us all!
Key Stage 2 Orchestra: available for all children in Key Stage 2 from playing percussion to playing the violin. We have 24 children who participate in the orchestra and have a range of repertoire, from Handel to Harry Potter! Everyone is welcome with enthusiasm. It takes place on Monday lunchtimes, at 12.30 in class 2. Please contact Mrs Ralph for more details.
We also have a number of peripatetic teachers offering individual, private lessons at school:
Outside opportunities
The children are also given many opportunities outside of school and in the wider community to perform. Regular events have been;
Singing/playing:
2021-2022
We are fortunate to have strong links with Sevenoaks School who are keen to support the Music at Chiddingstone in different ways this year. In Term 2, with two key musical events (The KS1 Nativity and KS2 Carol Service), we have the help of Julia Kiggell, an accomplished music teacher from Sevenoaks school, who will be supporting the string players. We will also have some students coming in to deliver some music lessons to a class in 2022 for a term. Finally, discussions are underway for a joint cluster music event for Year 4 pupils.....Watch this space!