Welcome to Addington Music College
Addington has a thriving music community offering many opportunities for all students.
Music lessons
All students in the school have a weekly music lesson taught by a specialist music teacher. The curriculum is carefully tailored to meet the varying needs of our students. In the music room students have access to a wide range of tuned and untuned percussion instruments, keyboards, guitars and computers to explore performance and composition skills. Some students have lessons in the sensory theatre, where they experience a multi-sensory musical journey. All music is taught through a thematic approach, including themes such as ‘The Wild West’, ‘United We Stand’ and ‘Good v Evil’. All classes perform at the end of the year in our annual Proms Week.
Instrumental Lessons
Addington works closely with a team of peripatetic teachers from Berkshire Maestros. Lessons are available on a range of including trumpet, violin, cello, guitar and drum kit. Students often have the opportunity to try new instruments and those that show an interest and skill are put forward for lessons. There are regular instrumental concerts, giving students many opportunities to perform throughout the academic year. Our visiting instrumental teachers also visit class groups regularly in order to ensure that all Addington students have the chance to experience orchestral instruments.
Music Therapy
Addington has a music therapist who works with students across the school. Students are selected to receive music therapy on an individual basis.
Beyond the classroom
At Addington we give as much opportunity for students to reach their full musical potential as possible and run a variety of extra sessions.
These include:
- 1:1 Music Production sessions. These are for students who have an aptitude for songwriting, and enable students to express themselves through the writing and recording of their own music, learning to use music technology to support this.
- Sound Beam sessions. The sound beam is a musical instrument that is ideal for students who may have difficulty playing traditional musical instruments. It places an invisible keyboard in space and when students move through the beam it creates a sound. Playing the sound beam can help them to interact, be expressive and communicative through music. For more information please visit soundbeam.co.uk
- Rhythm Group – set up for students who have shown a high level of musicianship in lessons. They work as a samba band every week to further develop their skills and perform regularly.
- Arts Award. Students who have a strong interest and high skill level in any aspect of music can be put forward to complete their Arts Award, a nationally recognised qualification. For more information please visit artsaward.org.uk
Clubs in the Music Department
Clubs are an important part of Addington as we aim to give a broad musical experience that reflects student’s interests and talents. Lunchtime clubs include school choir, music production, sensory story, xylophone club and DJ club. We also run after school clubs. The Addington Band is run in partnership with Berkshire Maestros and students who are able to play their instrument with growing independence are invited to come along. They perform regularly throughout the year. Our theatre club is led by a visiting tutor and gives students the opportunity to learn songs and routines from the musicals.
Extra Special Activities
Addington often takes part in or hosts music events. We have taken many groups to perform at many different venues. We try to ensure that students of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to experience music in different settings, either as a participant or as an audience member.
These events have included:
- Special Superstar – a singing concert involving SEN schools in the local area
- SingIN! – an integration project involving buddying with local primary and secondary schools and working towards a concert
- Key stage 1 singing morning – hosting around 350 KS1 children to come together and enjoy singing
- The junior choir taking part in the annual Wokingham Junior Schools Concert at the Reading Hexagon
- The senior choir taking part in the Voice in a Million Concert at the O2 Arena and Wembley Arena
- Performing at the Wokingham citizenship ceremony in Wokingham town hall
- Concerts by visiting musicians, including groups from St Johns Orchestra and the REME band
- Festive carol singing in Woodley Precinct and at Woodley Age Concern
- Our community music series – regular workshops in school to explore music from around the world
Proms
Addington Proms is an annual event. Taking place at the end of each academic year, it is a week-long celebration and showcase of the musical talents of young people across the borough. Every student at Addington takes part in a performance with their class, students having instrumental lessons perform with their teacher and many of our clubs are also featured. Local schools join us throughout the week to perform. The week finishes with a highlight of the musical year; ‘Addington’s Got Talent.’
