Music plays an integral role in students’ learning at Parrs Wood. KS3 students have a curriculum Music lesson once a week, and study a wide variety of topics. These include the Elements of Music, Performance Skills, Film Music, Blues, Reggae, The Beatles, Musicals, Samba, Music Technology and many more. All of these topics encourage listening and appraising skills, performance and/or composition, which are the key units studied at KS4 and 5.
At KS4, students can choose to study the Edexcel GCSE Music and/or the NFCE Level 2 Music Technology course. KS4 music forms part of the broad and balanced curriculum offered at Parrs Wood, and is ideal for students who want to continue their creative studies beyond KS3. At KS5, students can study Edexcel A Level Music and A Level Music Technology. There is a long-standing tradition of Parrs Wood have going on to study Music at graduate level; over the last few years we have had successful applicants for Salford University, the University of Liverpool, the University of Hertfordshire, the University of Manchester and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Facilities
We are very fortunate to be able to offer the outstanding space and facilities that we have within the department. We have four teaching classrooms, a separate A Level teaching room, two iMac suites (running Logic Pro X and Sibelius), 10 practice rooms and a recording studio to support our students’ musical learning and experience. We have excellent links with the RNCM, University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and Salford University, as well as numerous performance venues. In recent years we have performed at the Palace Theatre, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester Metropolitan University, as well as numerous other local venues.
Extra-curricular Programme
We are very proud of our rich and varied extra-curricular programme, which includes numerous choirs, bands, an orchestra, steel pan groups, jazz bands, ukulele groups etc. as well as our nine visiting peripatetic teachers who teach 20 different instruments between them, mostly provided by One Education staff. All of our instrumental lessons and ensembles are open to everyone with no auditions. We are a fully inclusive department and welcome all who want to experience a subject that we are so passionate about. We regularly perform within our local community as well through the Didsbury Arts Festival. Every other year we join forces with our fantastic Drama department and we put on a musical as well; recent performances have included Bugsy Malone, Annie and Little Shop of Horrors. Summer 2023 will see us perform High School Musical!
Our Parrs Wood students live in an incredibly musically rich city. We facilitate them exploring this as often as possible, to enrich their curriculum studies and personal interests, and help them find their feet on their careers pathway. We offer regular trips to concerts and musical theatre performances in Manchester, as well as regular workshops and guest speakers from employers and universities. We have excellent working relationships with the University of Manchester, Salford University, MMU, the RNCM, the dBs Institute, Ostereo Records, the BBC Philharmonic and the Hallé orchestra to support our students.
We have recently completed a concert tour to Paris, which was incredibly exciting, and we cannot wait to organise our next trip.
There is plenty for everyone to get involved in and we can’t wait to welcome you to Music at Parrs Wood. Please keep up to date with all of our concerts and activities on our social media platforms:
