In music, Year 6 have been learning about selecting appropriate musical textures and rhythms to try and express the feeling of various images and settings. This is an important part of music learning, and leads the pupils to think about the vast expressive possibilities in music making. To tie things in with their current topic “Frozen Kingdoms”, the class worked together to create a live soundtrack of some dramatic footage of the polar ice caps melting. It started with a planning session, where they gave some key words to convey the moods they felt from watching the clip: dramatic, eerie, intense, powerful, and suspenseful. The class then decided which instruments they should use: a range of drums to convey power and drama, mixed with metallic percussion and glockenspiels to represent the frozen, icy landscape twisting and turning into the sea. Year 6 then worked as a team to practise and perform their live soundscape to the footage, suggesting their own rhythms and parts. Very expressive stuff – well done Year 6!

They are also learning to sing a great wintery tune: “White Winter Hymnal” by The Fleet Foxes – a video performance of that will come soon!