Music

What we are trying to achieve with our students

• Encourage a love of music within all of our students across all Key Stages

• Enable our students to become confident, creative and independent learners

• Encourage our students to engage with music from a variety of different genres, cultures and periods

• Introduce students to new musical skills within the context of performing, composing and listening

• Create opportunities for students to use technology creatively

• Develop confidence within individuals and offer opportunities for group work where they develop skills in decision making, team work, communication and leadership

• Offer students many enrichment activities including choir, bands and ensembles, as well as concerts, trips, workshops, a bi-annual stage production and European summer tour

Staff List

Mrs A Bailey, Joint Head of Music
Since joining the music team in January 2016 I have been thrilled to work with students at every key stage as well as leading the Junior Orchestra and Senior Brass Group. My previous post was at a busy north London comprehensive and I have been an exam marker for Edexcel and AQA exam boards for many years. As a flugel horn player, I regularly perform with the Hitchin Brass Band as well as leading the Hitchin Youth Band. I am passionate about music-making for all and keen to see young people engaged in music both practically and academically.

Mrs E Guinane, Joint Head of Music
I have been teaching at KTS since 2009, when I started as an NQT. Since being here I have gradually taken on more responsibility and in 2014 was appointed Head of Music. I play the trumpet and the 'cello and I really enjoy conducting or playing with our many successful ensembles. As Head of Music at the Knights Templar School, it is extremely important to me that all of our students have the opportunity to get involved in music-making both inside and outside of the classroom.  Our staff are passionate about what they do and their energy and excitement make our Music Department a very busy and vibrant place to be!

Mrs H Johnson
I joined the school over 20 years ago as a peripatetic clarinet teacher and teacher of classroom music.  I am now responsible for KS3 music within the school.  My passion is working with and playing alongside young instrumentalists and singers in our many extra curricular groups.  Music tours are one of the highlights of my job and I have been lucky enough to visit Prague, Barcelona, Croatia and Hungary and to perform inside St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice.   I am currently learning to play the bassoon, proving you are never too old!

Ms R Thomas
Ms Thomas  joined the department in January 2010.   She has taught in schools in the North of England and was recently Singing Strategy Leader and Choral Director for the Hertfordshire Music Service.  She is an Advisory Teacher for the Voices Foundation, Teacher of Music at Round Diamond Primary School, Stevenage and conducts the Baldock Community Orchestra.  Ms Dawson does a great deal of work with our feeder primary schools, forging important links and enabling a smooth transition into secondary school through singing days.

Courses We Offer

KS3

At KS3, we aim to offer our students a firm grounding in the musical elements and we take a very practical approach in order to do this. Year 7 students learn about the musical elements such as Rhythm, Metre, Texture, Timbre, Dynamics and Pitch before learning about the Keyboard, Indonesian Gamelan, Folk Music and Musicals.

In Year 8, our students are introduced to GarageBand and every other lesson is a technology lesson where they learn how to use loops, input, record and compose using the software. Alternate lessons are devoted to the development of performance skills, listening and analysis and group composition. They do this through the following units: Repetition in music, Modes and scales, World Music and fanfares.

In Year 9, lessons alternate between practical group work (K1) and technology units using GarageBand software (K2).

Term 1             Blues Music in K1
                        Mood Music in K2

Term 2             Film Music: Performing James Bond in K1
                        Film Music: Composing for Film Trailers in K2

Term 3             Performing Pop Songs in K1
                        Pop Music Arranging in K2

KS4

At KS4, we follow the new AQA syllabus. There are three main areas of assessment.

A) Listening to set works and unfamiliar music. Exam worth 40%

B) Performance as solo and ensemble. Internally assessed 30%

C) Composition of two pieces. One to a brief and one free. Internally assessed 30%

The range of music studied is wide ranging from the Western Classical tradition through Blues, Popular Music, Traditional music to (20^th Western Classical Music.

Twilight GCSE Music is offered as well as a mainstream group. The Twilight group currently meets for an hour after school twice a week. The Twilight course is aimed at students who are already confident performers and who have the organisational and intellectual ability to undertake an extra GCSE.

NB The Twilight course is offered to students at a cost, depending on the number of students in the group.

KS5

At KS5, we follow the New Edexcel Syllabus for Music A Level. The course is divided into three parts; 

a) Listening and Anthology - Students have to study works from six areas; Vocal music; Baroque Music; Popular music; Film Music; New directions and Fusions. Exam 40%

b) Performance – 8 minutes of solo or ensemble. Internally assessed.(30%)

c) Composition – I free composition and one technique based composition. Internally assessed.(30%).

Lesson time for the Listening and Anthology is dedicated to general listening, theory skills, music history and analysis of set works. We aim to integrate as much performing into these lessons as possible. Composition lessons take place in our technology suite for the most part, as we have the latest Sibelius 7 software and Logic 9 on our apple computers. All of our Music students have instrumental lessons either inside or outside of school, so that the performance unit can be addressed with a specialist instrumental teacher.

We also offer the Edexcel Music Technology course at AS and A2. We invite local Music Technology specialists to hold workshops to enhance our teaching., The course is a very practical one, which focuses on coursework for the most part. There are three pieces of coursework at AS (70%) and A2 (60%), which involve Sequencing, Composing and Multitrack recording. We have a specialist recording studio with the latest apple technology, Logic X and recording equipment. There is also a Listening and Analysing element to both the AS and A2 courses, which offers students an opportunity to study the history of popular music and pop styles from 1910 onwards at AS (30%), and a more skills based approach demonstrating their knowledge of music technology at A2 (40%).