Hello! My name is Mrs Seaman and I am school’s music co-ordinator. I look at music provision throughout our school. I enjoy listening to a wide range of music, often dependent on how I am feeling. Since becoming musical lead, I myself have enjoyed so many new songs and genres that I’d never listened to or heard much of previously. It’s amazing how diverse music is, how it stirs emotions and allows the listener and performer to convey emotions in a way that nothing else can! It can inspire and help us to convey thoughts and ideas through a unique medium. I believe that it is so important for children to be aware of the diverse nature of music, allowing them to access many aspects of learning and understanding in a unique and accessible way.
Music is also one of the purest forms of self expression. It provides an excellent platform for expressing ourselves through creation. Every note and lyric represents something deeply personal to the artist. In our lessons, our children are given opportunities to listen, discuss and appraise music-there’s usually not a still foot in the classrooms! They are given the chance to create their own music and songs to express their own thoughts, feelings and emotions-we have some truly musical children!
We are a well-resourced and inclusive school and we provide opportunities for all children to participate in musical experiences in school to enable them to have a love of music far beyond the classroom walls!
At Southwick, music is taught through a rich combination of the Charanga Musical School Scheme, Sing Up’s curriculum, BBC Ten Pieces, and dedicated instrumental programmes. This ensures every child experiences a broad and engaging musical education. Our curriculum follows a spiral approach, revisiting the key dimensions of music—pitch, rhythm, dynamics, structure, tempo, and duration—through each year group. By building on these skills year by year, children develop confidence, creativity, and a deep understanding of music.
We are joined in school with Mr Potts who is our strings expert and teaches guitar. We work closely with Sunderland Music Hub and take part in a variety of city-wide musical events.
We have a school choir which is open to all children from year 3-6. Our choir has opened and participated in many events across Sunderland, from the Christmas light switch on at Southwick Green and The Bridges, to participating in the Big Sing at Sunderland Empire. Our choir is an invaluable part of whole school assemblies and celebrations such as Harvest, Easter and Christmas whole school performances. The choir get together with Mrs Seaman every Monday after school. If you would like to join just ask Mrs Seaman in class 9!
In the words of Aristotle, “Music has a power of forming the character and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young.” We agree with this wholeheartedly and this runs through the ethos of our music curriculum in school.
