In addition to a bespoke curriculum, we pride ourselves on the music enrichment we offer at Christopher Pickering. We have regular peripatetic music teachers visiting the school to teach drumming, clarinet and violin. These lessons are offered to pupils in key stage two. We are proud to say our students have been involved in music festivals and concerts at the Albemarle Music Centre in Hull, Hull City Hall, Hull University and some children have also been invited to join the Hull Youth Orchestra.
Each year, our children have the chance to join a choir where pupils from across the whole school may join in this club to learn new songs and skills in singing. Our music concerts have become a tradition at Christopher Pickering. Every Christmas the choir and the children who play instruments join together to perform for their parents and more recently at Local Community Hubs. The choir have also been invited to perform in the Festival of Remembrance held by the British Legion at Hull City Hall. They even had the opportunity to collaborate with Viking FM and other schools in the city to release a Christmas single into the charts
Every half term we select a different musician and as children come in and out of assembly we listen to and appraise a variety of songs/compositions by them. We aim to learn something about each musician and have the opportunity to discuss their music in class.
We are also currently forming partnerships with Hull University to provide live music experiences by their students, for ours. In Y3 children have the opportunity to learn how to sing in Mandarin – They have had a fabulous teacher Lulu and at the end of the unit of work they have the opportunity to to perform at Middleton Hall at Hull University!
Noise Academy
In the Summer term, Noise Academy came into school to run workshops with the Year 6 children where they had the opportunity to use decks and learn how to DJ!
All children attended a crash course in DJ’ing over the course of 4 full days and achieved their level 1 awards after they all recorded a fantastic mix to share their skills with the world!
All children loved it!
Listen to our work below and let us know what you think!
Composer/Musician of the Half Term 2022-2023
At Christopher Pickering Primary School, we believe that all genres of music should be celebrated, and successful artists should be recognised for their contribution to music. Each half-term, we will celebrate and learn about different musicians from around the world. The children will hear the artist’s music as they come into and leave assembly. In addition, we share information about the artist on the main screen.
Autumn Term 1 2023 – Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris was born in Michigan, USA, in 1950, the third of six children to Calvin Judkins and Lula Mae Hardaway. He was born six weeks premature, which, along with a problem with the hospital incubator, resulted in a condition which caused the retinas to detach from the eye; this meant he became blind.
Wonder began playing instruments at an early age, including the piano, harmonica, drums and bass. He formed a singing partnership with a friend; calling themselves Stevie and John, they played on street corners, and occasionally at parties and dances. In 1961, when aged 11, Wonder was signed by Motown (a famous record label). Before signing, producer Clarence Paul gave him the name Little Stevie Wonder.
Among Wonder’s works are singles such as “Superstition”, “Sir Duke”, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You”. He has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and received twenty-two Grammy Awards, the most ever awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder has sold over 100 million albums and singles, making him one of the top 60 best-selling music artists.
Wonder is also noted for his work as an activist for political causes, including his 1980 campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a holiday in the United States.
Autumn Term 2 2023 – Stan Kenton
Spring Term 1 2024 – Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on 12th December 1915. He was an American singer and film actor. Sinatra found huge success as a solo artist from the early to mid-1940s after being signed by
Columbia Records in 1943. He released his first album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra in 1946. His professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, but it was reborn in 1953 after he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film From Here to Eternity.
By 1961, Sinatra had created his own record label, (Reprise Records) and was singing all over the world. He was a founding member of the ’Rat Pack’ and spent lots of time with famous celebrities and politicians (other famous actors in the Rat Pack included Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior).
With sales of his music dwindling and after appearing in several poorly received films, Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971. Two years later, however, he came out of retirement and in 1973 recorded several very successful albums.
Sinatra is one of the most famous artists of all time, selling over 50,000,000 records!
Frank Sinatra died on 14th May 1998 as one of the world’s most famous singers.
Spring Term 2 2024 – Elton John
Elton John was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25th March 1947, the eldest child of Stanley and only child of Sheila Dwight. He was raised in Pinner, Middlesex in a small council house and attended Pinner Wood Junior School, Reddiford School and Pinner County Grammar School. He left school at 17 to pursue a career in the music industry.
Elton is a hugely successful singer, composer, pianist, record producer, and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967 and have collaborated on over 30 albums.
In his six-decade career, Elton has sold over 300 million records. He has more than fifty top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums. His single “Candle in the Wind” sold over 33 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling single of all time. He has received many awards for his music (Grammy Awards, Brit Awards, an Academy Award, Golden Globe Award and Tony Award).
In 1998, Elton received a knighthood from the Queen Elizabeth for “services to music and charitable services”.
Over the last 30 years, Elton John has raised over $200,000,000 for different charities. He is especially famous for hosting the annual Academy Award Party, which is a party for rich and famous people after the Oscar ceremony.
Summer Term 1 2024 – Vivaldi
Summer Term 2 2024 -Nina Simone
Eunice Waymon was born on 21st February 1933 in North Carolina, USA and grew up to become one of the most famous classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B. gospel and pop singers of her generation. She changed her stage name to Nina Simone. “Nina” comes from the Spanish word Nina (neen-ya) which means “little one”. “Simone” was taken from a famous French actress Simone Signoret.
Whilst growing up, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black. Sadly, racism played a big part in the American way of life in the 1950s and 60s. She began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to pay for her musical education and become a classical pianist. Whilst at the club she was approached by Bethlehem Records after a producer heard her sing “I Loves You, Porgy”. This was a big hit in the US and started her hugely successful career which included more than 40 albums.
In the early 1960s, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the campaign for equal rights for all in the United States. In later years, she lived abroad, finally settling in France in 1992. She sold millions of records and received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2000 and was a fifteen-time Grammy Award nominee over the course of her career. Nina Simone died in her sleep at her home in France on April 21, 2003.
