Music
Oakfield has an extremely strong musical tradition. Throughout the school, children are encouraged to develop vocal and instrumental skills through performing, composing and listening.
Singing is very much a part of the everyday life of the school, and children are taught from the outset to pitch accurately and to pay attention to breath control, tone and dynamics. They are given regular performance opportunities through our many assemblies and plays, and every child is fully accustomed to working on the stage. Through our links with other local schools, the children in Key Stage 2 often share their music-making during curriculum music time, including playing their orchestral instruments alongside the orchestra from Trevelyan Middle School, and participating in regular Windsor Singalongs hosted at Oakfield, when around 300 children gather to learn new songs together.
We benefit from close ties with the Berkshire Maestros, and all Year 3 and 4 children learn an orchestral instrument (currently violin, viola, cello, flute or oboe) free of charge in school time, partly funded through the national 'Into Music' programme, and partly through the school's own 'Play On' programme. All children in Years 2, 3 and 4 also learn the recorder, and we have popular recorder and handbell groups, and a thriving school choir. In addition, several children take individual or group instrumental lessons in violin, viola, keyboard or piano at school.
Please find below two links provided by Berkshire Maestros demonstrating techniques on the cello:
Cello bow technique part 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUiAXgrDoK4&sns=em
Cello bow technique part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-dJ3anEXs8&sns=em
Many of our children choose to pursue music as a hobby outside school. Those who are preparing for concerts or taking music exams are encouraged to practise their performances in assembly, both to accustom themselves to playing before an audience and to inspire other children. We also regularly enjoy concerts from visiting musical groups such as 'Travelling By Tuba'.
Through this wide range of musical activities and experiences, we aim to enable every child from Foundation through to Year 4 to use and understand sound as a medium of expression and communication, and to foster in them an interest in, and love of, music which will stay with them for life.