Tag: music

Falkirk Music Show Reel

Gayle Martin, Arts & Culture Officer, Falkirk Council Curriculum Support Team has created a show reel of some of our senior music ensembles and projects that performed at the School Senior Concerts in March.  The clips were filmed during rehearsals prior o the concerts at Falkirk Town Hall on 25th & 27th March.  The film shows both the talent and achievement by pupils and staff, with new compositions and arrangements by three senior pupils – Christopher Paully of Falkirk High, Andrew Brown of Graeme High and Danielle McKenna from St Mungo’s High.  Their composition was part of New Found Sound Project, where they worked alongside composer Tom Butler from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to create a new piano composition to accompany silent film.  Percussion Tutor Stuart Blackwood composed a new piece of music The Americas and Guitar Tutor Keith Jenner arranged The Beatles Eleanor Rigby, which was conducted by Strings Tutor Gisela Hans and performed by Senior String Ensemble.  Also performing in the clip is Falkirk Traditional Music Project band Up Beat, supported by senior YMI Trad Tutor John Somerville and YMI Trad Tutors Marc Duff and Steven Holland.  The final clip is an excerpt from Falkirk Schools Senior Orchestra rehearsal which is conducted by Brass Tutor Ian Boutler, with pupils from across all secondary schools.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/AOv9sFyxPOw" width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" fvars="fs=1" /]

Arts & Culture

Falkirk Schools Orchestra
Falkirk Schools Orchestra

Gayle Martin has been newly appointed as the Arts & Culture Officer within the Curriculum Support Team based at Camelon Education Centre. Gayle’s remit is to manage the music service, support and develop Gaelic language and culture, develop and support Creative Learning 3-18 and the strategic and operational management of national priorities and developments relating to culture.
Within the first week Gayle programmed and managed Falkirk Schools Senior Concerts which were held on Monday 25th & Wednesday 27th March at Falkirk Town Hall. This was an excellent format to allow pupils from across schools to showcase their achievements in music. Pupils received support through music departments, the instrumental service and Youth Music Initiative. We had a range of performances from Falkirk Schools Orchestra, Falkirk Senior String Ensemble, New Found Sound, Falkirk Junior and Youth Trad Bands, St Mungo’s Wind Group plus many more. Pupils created a fantastic two nights of high quality music! Watch this space for more photos and some films taken from the concerts.

Active Literacy and the Specialist Subject in Primary

Sharon Wallace, Effective teaching and learning teacher, Curriculum Support Team delivered an Active Literacy workshop to the Primary Specialists team. Specialists in P.E., Music, Modern Foreign Languages, Art and Drama examined the connections between their subject area and active literacy. We examined the literacy skills needed for each area which included: subject specific vocabulary, visual literacy, sharing ideas, following instructions, interpretation of texts and presenting.

Feedback from colleagues included:
“Will work with class teachers to enable pupils to create a piece of writing linked to work carried out in a drama session”
“This builds confidence and encourages me to do more. Will use Victoria Libraries and GLOW links as suggested”
“Makes me more aware that a lot of what I am doing already links well to active literacy. Makes me more confident”
“I will get my pupils to work more in pairs (Reciprocal teaching) to improve their communication skills”
“Some practical ideas of how to include Active Literacy in a specialist lesson”
“To work co-operatively with the class teacher to enhance active literacy in music class”

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/vPRZ8MN9Ha4" width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" fvars="fs=1" /]