Music

General overview of our aims in music:

Our aim is for all children to enjoy music making and to experience as wide a range of musical activities as possible. Music is an important part of life at Stanfield, with even the youngest children in Early Years, having a weekly lesson from a music specialist.

Christmas Productions:

All the children perform in the schools' Christmas productions. Each of the Infant year groups performs a musical play to their parents. A lovely tradition has developed whereby the Reception children also perform theirs in a Girls' Senior School assembly.

The girls in the Junior department come together to perform either a Christmas concert or a Christmas musical. Some of the works they have done include A Little Match Girl, Hosanna Rock, A Caribbean Christmas and Journey to Bethlehem.

Reception Christmas Play

Year 6 productions:

The girls in Year 6 work towards a large-scale production during the second half of the academic year.

Some of the productions we have presented include a Variety Show as well as the musicals ‘Blast Off', ‘The Babylon Times', ‘The Blue Crystal', ‘Scherazade', ‘Rainmaker', Robin Hood, ‘The Tempest' and Alice in Wonderland.

The 2012 production is Cinderella and Rockerfella.

Year 6 production of Alice In Wonderland

Extra curricular music includes:

The school orchestra comprises children from Years 2 to Year 6 with pupils from both here at Stanfield and also the Boys' Junior School.

The Recorder club us open to girls in Year 3

The Handbell group and Percussion club are open to girls in Years 5 & 6

Little Choir for Year 1 & 2

Junior Choir for Years 3 & 4

Senior Choir for Years 5 & 6

The girls sing a varied repertoire ranging from sacred songs through to folk songs and songs from shows and musicals, and the girls in Year 6 have performed for local groups including The Crosby Stroke Association and Jopsice.

For the past two years the Senior Choir has sung at St Faith's Church Christmas Tree Festival and also as part of their summer series of recitals.

In the past both the Junior and Senior choirs have competed - and won - the classes they have entered in The Crosby Festival of Music and Dance. The Senior choir has also appeared on Granada Today and undertaken two foreign musical tours to Paris and The Netherlands respectively.

On two occasions the Senior has been invited, as the only school choir present, to take part in the Clatterbridge Cancer Research Charity Christmas Carol concerts. The girls have really enjoyed the experience of singing to very large audiences in the Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool.

In 2010 The Senior choir performed with The Halton Orpheus Choir, The Warrington Musical Society, soloists from The Royal Northern College of Music and orchestral ensemble in two performances of John Rutter's Mass of the Children.

The school offers peripatetic music lessons in:

Piano
Violin, Cello, Double Bass
Guitar
Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone, Oboe
Trumpet, Tenor Horn
Percussion
Singing

These lessons are with a fully qualified peripatetic team of staff and are an optional extra to the music taught as part of the school curriculum. Lessons are arranged in consultation with the class teachers and given either in break times, where possible, or on a rota basis so that the same children do not miss the same lesson each week. The children are entered for Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music exams (and London College of Music for singing) when they are deemed ready by the staff.

School Music Competition:

We hold an annual music competition in school judged by an outside adjudicator. As many children as possible are encouraged to enter (there were over 150 entries for last year's competition) as we believe that it is important to give children the opportunity to have a platform to perform alone or as part of a small group. Winners, and other good performers, of the different classes are then able to perform to parents and guests of the school in a concert. The girls are also encouraged to compose their own music for the competition which they can do either individually or as part of a small ensemble.

Some winners from the Music Competition

AJIS events:

The girls in Years 5 and 6 are given the opportunity to participate in the annual AJIS Sings day when approximately 200 boys and girls come together to learn a variety of songs during the day.

Several girls have also participated in the AJIS Last Night of the Proms events. To qualify for this, the players need to have achieved at least Grade 3 on their chosen orchestral instrument. The pupils who have attended the days have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing in an orchestra made up of similar (and better standard) players as they work during the day to rehearse the music for the evening's concert.