Westbury
House School has always had a very active and successful music
department. The two choirs, Junior and Senior Choir, are very popular, and the
children enjoy performing throughout the year in concerts both in school
and in nearby venues.
Every Year the school holds a Carol Concert, Nativity Plays, Summer Concerts and every
second year a fully-staged musical production.
Many of our pupils take lessons in clarinet, violin, piano, guitar and
singing at school with our visiting peripatetic music teachers. The pupils
are encouraged to work towards ABRSM exams, and they benefit hugely from
being part of an instrumental club on a weekly basis. There are ample
opportunities for these pupils to perform solos and ensembles at school.
The music curriculum includes the Kodaly Method which has proven outcomes of improved singing abilities and sound qualities; performing skills on pitch
percussion instruments; developed aural, improvising and composing skills involving the Thinking Voice; developed knowledge of the concepts of pitch
and rhythm, and the structural and expressive elements of phrase, tempo, metre, timbre, dynamics and textures.
Children also enjoy learning about broader musical topics, such as world music, pop, jazz, Rock and many other genres. The children also work on larger
scale projects, focusing on a particular composer and musical era, for example.