Music Development Plan Summary - Sept 2024

At Lancaster School, music serves as an essential educational component that connects with all curriculum skill areas: My Communication Skills, My Thinking Skills, My Personal, Social, Health, Emotional Skills, My Movement Skills, My Engagement, Creativity and Well-Being Skills

Every student will have:

Regular opportunities to vocalise/sing, experience/play instruments and create music together with appropriate classroom support
Pathways to develop their individual musical interests and talents
Exposure to diverse musical styles and genres for listening and appreciation
Multiple performance platforms including weekly Lancaster Live sessions, Southend Makes Music concerts, and school productions
Experiences as audience members at theatrical and musical productions locally and in London when appropriate

Plans for 2024-2025

Young Frankenstein trip to Palace Theatre 13.11.24
Children in Need Lancaster's Got Talent 15.11.24
Beauty and the Beast - visiting production to school 19.11.24
Christmas Music Service 5/6.12.24
Christmas Pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk 16,17,18.12.24
Cliffs Pavilion Whole School Pantomime visit to Cliffs Pavilion 19.12.24
Conductive Education workshops - using music tech - Makey Makey's 15/16.1.25
Chinese Music/Dance workshops 30.1.25
Aurora Orchestra - Sensory Story Performance 10.2.25
KS4 trip to Oliver in the West End 12.2.25
Southend Makes Music - rock band and choir performance at Palace Theatre 4.3.25
Voice in a Million - Choir perform at Wembley 19.3.25
Secret Garden - visiting production to school 20.3.25
Wizard of Oz - visiting production to school 11.6.25
School Prom - 22.7.25

Overview

Detail	Information
Academic year that this summary covers	2024-2025
Date this summary was published	September 2024
Date this summary will be reviewed	July 2025
Name of the school music lead	Nathan Cresswell
Name of school leadership team member with responsibility for music (if different)
Name of local music hub	Essex and Southend Music Hub
Name of other music education organisation(s)	We are a Music Mark School

This summary outlines how our school provides music education across three key areas: curriculum music, co-curricular activities, and musical experiences. It details our current offerings and future plans to help students and families understand our music education program and our partner organizations.

Part A: Curriculum music

Lancaster School implements a comprehensive 5-year music curriculum tailored to different learning pathways—Sensory and SLD.

Students at Lancaster School follow a 5 year curriculum plan that is differentiated to their learning pathway – Sensory, SLD

Music instruction takes place in a fully-equipped music room with access to modern technology including iPads, Skoogs, and laptops for digital music creation. While the curriculum provides a structured framework, we recognize and incorporate students' musical interests and preferences as vehicles for developing musical skills.

Part B: Co-curricular music

Students can participate in lunchtime singing groups, and this year we're establishing a student rock band. We actively encourage participation in both school performances and community events such as Southend Makes Music and the Voice in a Million concert at Wembley.

We nurture individual talents and interests—currently supporting a student drummer who uses our facilities for practice and several students developing DJ skills that they showcase at school events and our annual prom.

Part C: Musical Experiences, Events and Performances

We strive to provide rich and varied musical experiences for all Lancaster students.

Our weekly Lancaster Live sessions bring classes together to create performance spaces where students share favourite music through singing or dancing.

The M and M theatre company visits each term, presenting traditional productions for the entire school.

Teachers are encouraged to enhance curriculum learning through relevant local and national visits, such as the planned West End trip to see Oliver.

We participate annually in Southend Makes Music, a celebration of local school music-making, and use performance recordings to inspire wider student participation.

We maintain strong connections with local amateur dramatic companies who offer discounted tickets, and we utilize our private trust funds to ensure all events are accessible to everyone.

Student-driven musical initiatives are promoted through our school council and student voice, resulting in termly discos featuring student DJs, significant input into the year-end prom, and performance opportunities for our Year 14 leavers.

In the future

March 2025 marks the beginning of our building program, which includes a new multi-purpose hall and music room that will significantly enhance the school's music facilities.

We've received an invitation to participate in the Southend Music Festival in the next academic year.