The start of the school year is always an exciting, albeit busy, time.
After summer, students and teachers (hopefully) come back to school feeling re-energised and eager to tackle the year ahead. Lesson planning can be enjoyable but it can also be daunting, as there are so many competing priorities. Trying to put together lesson plans that deliver key curriculum objectives whilst also being engaging for children is no easy task.
Music education is a priority for the Department for Education, with School Standards Minister Nick Gibb MP recognising that “it is so important for young people – learning to play an instrument can open up countless opportunities, while the enjoyment of music can stay with people their whole lives.”
At ABRSM, we’ve built our mission on a love for music, and we want to nurture and inspire achievement in it. We want to help teachers and schools deliver high-quality, engaging music education, available to all children.
That’s why we’re encouraging you tomake the first term a classical one!
Classical music is a rewarding, rich division of music that has the power to inspire musical activity. That’s why ABRSM, in partnership with Classic FM and Decca, developed Classical 100.
Classical 100is a free resource for primary schools in the UK that will help ignite enthusiasm for, and keep children engaged in, classical music in the classroom.
Classical 100features 100 pieces of classical music in a dynamic list, ranging from Bach to Bernstein and Handel to Haydn. The music can
be sorted by mood, instrument, tempo and historical period, or in any other way that suits.
Each of the 100 pieces features its own musical challenge. The challenges are fun and flexible and cover the following areas of learning:
1. Exploring instruments
2. Composing and creating
3. Performance and using your voice
4. Musical understanding
You don’t have to be a specialist music teacher to use Classical 100. Each challenge includes a helpful guide and all the resources needed to tackle it in the classroom – helping make lesson planning easier during the busy back-to-school period.
All the materials and language have been carefully created with the learner in mind, by industry and primary school experts.
The Department for Education is a key partner and champion of Classical 100,as it can be used to meet several National Curriculum targets.
Around 6,000 schools, over 10,000 educators and an estimated 200,000 pupils have already engaged with Classical 100across the UK since it first launched in 2015.
So, help bring music to life in the classroom and make your first term a classical one!
Sign up today here: https://gb.abrsm.org/en/classical100/
More about ABRSM: https://gb.abrsm.org/en/home
