We enjoy developing our children’s musical awareness through the use of the fantastic Kapow Music scheme.
Our music curriculum supports all requirements of the National Curriculum and the new Model Music Curriculum as children learn to develop their skills in listening, performing, composing, history of music and the interrelated dimensions of music.
We enjoy displaying our musical talents at every opportunity - and we integrate songs, hymns and our instrumental talents into our talent shows, Class Assemblies, Harvest services, Remembrance services, Easter services, Christmas services and productions, end-of year productions and of course, our daily Assemblies.
Music Curriculum at Ellwood Community Primary School
As musicians we listen, compose, appraise and perform music from around the world.
We have been nominated by the Gloucestershire Music Hub again this year to become a Music Mark School.
Music Mark is the UK Association for Music Education who champion and support access to music for all children and young people.
The Music Mark certificate is awarded to schools who place importance on music and ensure that pupils are able to access and engage with a high-quality music education. We are very excited to receive this certificate and wanted to share this news with our community.
Willow class have been learning about music wishing the film industry. They have been experimenting with musical instruments used within the making of film music. They have also been finding out lots of interesting facts about music witching this industry too.
Since the new introduction of music tuition at Ellwood school, we have two new musicians and they are two of the youngest members of school learning to play an instrument. It is so exciting to see such young budding musicians, in school, learning to play the guitar and the piano.
Willow Class
Children in y5 and 6 have been learning to sing songs from South and West Africa. One song was sung in a Capella. They then learnt to play percussion instruments to fit the song.
Autumn term 1 2023 - Oak Class
In Oak Class we have enjoyed finding the beat and exploring high and low sounds. We have also enjoyed learning, singing and creating actions to different Nursery Rhymes.
We are exploring high and low sounds, when making a high sound we raised our arms. When we made a low sound we would get as low as possible.
Chestnut Music Summer 1
This term we have been learning how to keep a steady pulse, use instruments to make animal noises and performing songs!
Beech Class Spring Term
This term we have enjoyed taking part in the 'Musical Me' unit of work, experimenting with our voices, we learnt about rhythm, dynamics and beat.
Choir Club Spring Term
Choir have had fun learning a range of different songs and experimenting with our voices.
Autumn 2021 - Beech
We would like to share with you some fantastic work that Beech Class have been working hard on.
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been looking at ballads. We listened and discussed different ballads and then we were challenged to write our own ballad as a class based on a short video.
We created the lyrics and then learnt to sing them to the tune of a popular song.
Willow Class - Autumn Term 2022
Willow class have been learning about the celebration of colour ‘Hoki’. They have been thinking about music as different colours.
Summer Term 2021
We were very fortunate to have had the concert pianist Clare Hammond visit our school. Clare Hammond is a British concert pianist, who in 2016, was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society's Young Artist award. She performed a recital for the KS1 and KS2 children in their classrooms. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and for some children this was the first time they had heard a live classical piano recital. What a treat!
Music Mark Certificate
Spring Term 2021
Beech, Sycamore and Willow classes attended a live streamed concert from the London Sinfonietta. The children enjoyed joining in with the sign language and learning about the pentatonic scale.
Willow took part in one of the challenges set by the London Sinfonietta and created their own compositions on postcards. The children thought creatively about how they could express different elements of music in their own way. Well done Willow. These postcard compositions are brilliant!
Sycamore - Autumn Term 2020
We have been listening and appraising Christmas songs! We discussed the different genres, the various instruments we could hear, structures of the songs and the lyrics.
We looked at notation and rhythms. We arranged some basic rhythms to create our own composition and we performed it on an untuned instrument.
We learnt about traditional notation. Soon, we are going to be composing our own Christmas songs and performing them in front of the class.
Performing our compositions on untuned instruments
Practising some basic rhythms
Performing our compositions on untuned instruments
Young Voices Concert 2019
'Singing and Performing' is so much fun!
Our School choir travelled to Birmingham on Friday 25th January 2019 to take part in a national singing concert with a difference for a second year running! Pupils from Years 4, 5 and 6 had learnt a host of songs and showed great enthusiasm and engagement during their rehearsals.
Another year on and it certainly didn’t disappoint. The atmosphere throughout the day was fantastic and the children had a lot of fun, whilst working hard to practise the songs and dance moves.
The aim of Young Voices is to inspire a love of music and create memories for the children that will last a lifetime. The music is specially selected to create a diverse musical repertoire that introduces children to the widest possible spectrum of music. By providing a diverse range of musical styles, our children learnt and enjoyed a fuller understanding of music - and what it means to sing together.
We would like to thank the parents and families of our pupils for allowing their children to experience such a memorable event - and also for travelling to the arena to be a part of the vast audience. We hope that it will remain in the memories of our children and their families forever!
Well done!
'Listening and Appraising' at St Briavels School
As part of our 'Listening and Appraising' in Music lessons, pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 were invited to St Briavels school to enjoy a performance by an incredible string quartet. The musicians provided an inspirational show that included many pieces of modern music that we recognised, intertwined with many pieces that were new to us.
They explained how their instruments were used and answered our many questions about their impressive performance. The string musicians were extremely talented and they held our attention brilliantly. They even invited Harriet from Willow Class and Jayden from Sycamore Class to join them in their demonstrations! We were told that we made a fantastic audience and we were complimented on our wonderful behaviour.
We are very grateful that we had the opportunity to watch such an engaging production and we loved discussing our favourite pieces that the quartet had played later in the day when we returned to school.
Sycamore class are very fortunate to be having clarinet music tuition this term. They are working on how mouth position changes the way the instrument sounds. They are also working on hand position when using the clarinet.
It has been very exciting to see and hear the sound of music through the school during our new addition of piano and guitar lessons. We have recently introduced music lessons due to the high numbers of interest from children wanting to learn an instrument. Parents have spoken highly of the lessons so far with one parents explaining “ my daughter is thoroughly enjoying the lessons and we have signed up for more lessons for the summer term. Thank you so much for organising them”. If your child would like to get involved with music lesson please get in touch with the office.
Autumn term 1 - 2023 - Sycamore class
Sycamore Class have been enjoying Gamelan music. They have had the opportunity to experience a number of different instruments. If you didn't already know, Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese people of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones played by mallets and a set of hand-played drums called kendang, which register the beat. The children have taken part in these sessions over a number of weeks and have really enjoyed learning about music from another culture.
Summer Term 1 2022
Year 1are having great fun learning how music can represent the environment. We have been using instruments to represent seaside sounds and making simple songs.
Oak Autumn 2022
We have been busy learning about the beat and tempo within our music lessons.
The children have enjoyed action rhymes and movement within their lessons.
Autumn 1 2022-2023
Chestnut Class
Through fairy tales, children were introduced to the concept of timbre; learning that different sounds can represent characters and key moments in a story. They explored clapping along to the syllables of words and phrases before creating rhythmic patterns to tell a familiar fairy tale.
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Sycamore Autumn 1 2022
Sycamore have been learning about graphic notation and learning to play an instrument with the right notes.
Spring Term 2021 - Sycamore
Sycamore have been enjoying listening and appraising music in different ways. They had to listen to a classical song and doodle ideas about how the song made them feel, the dimensions of the music and what story the music might be telling. In groups, they then had to act out the story they thought the music was telling. We had some lovely creative ideas. We found out that everyone interprets music in different ways.
Year 4 Brass Lessons - Autumn Term 2020
Year 4 loved learning how to play the trumpet this year. Each week, the children were enjoying musical games, reading music and learning new notes. Their favourite part was learning how to play 'I Feel Good' by James Brown.
Gloucestershire Academy of Music: Play it - Sing it - Love it
Throughout Spring Term 2019, children from Years 4 and 5 have had the opportunity to learn how to play brass and woodwind instruments on Monday afternoons. We are very fortunate and thankful that we have the opportunity for music specialists from Gloucestershire Academy of music to come in to teach them - Mrs Ford and Mr Gibbons.
They are thoroughly enjoying the experience of learning how to read and write music and are having lots of fun - well done!
Chestnut Class - Spring Term 2019
In Chestnut Class (Year 2 and 3) we have been learning how to read music and play glockenspiels. We have had fun learning with Mrs Wright and can't wait to play more instruments!
Privacy and cookies policy
Part 1: Privacy Policy
Last Edited: 22nd April 2021
1. Introduction
1.1. We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of the users of our services. Our services include and will hereby be referred to as 'Our Services' (our websites used to promote eSchools services and tutorial resources, specifically
https://www.eschools.co.uk
and https://academy.eschools.co.uk), 'School Websites' ( designed by eSchools and populated by individual schools themselves) and 'Platforms' (individual online services that provide teachers, learners, parents and governors with information, tools and resources) as well as our smartphone app. This policy sets out how we will treat your personal information across these services.
2. Collecting personal information on Our Services
2.1 We may process or temporarily store the following kinds of personal information:
information about your computer and about your visits to and use of Our Services (including but not limited to, your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths)
information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us or send through our website (including, the communication content) via online forms
any other personal information that you choose to send to us via online forms
manually inputted details of users added to the platform
details of users as integrated by our providers at Wonde via your MIS (if applicable to your package). For further information on integrated data please see our Data Sharing Agreement
2.2 Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person's consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.
2.3 eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. For further information on how you can manage and set your cookie preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.
2.4 Information submitted through the online contact form on a school website is processed via eSchools, and passed directly to the school in question. This data is held by eSchools for 30 days (or in the case of failed messages, 90 days) before deletion. Once passed to the school this data is held by them and subject to that school’s privacy policy.
2.5 Schools are also able to add analytics tools and can therefore gather information on visits to and use of their website (including but not limited to, IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths). Individual visitors can manage their preferences through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
2.6 Session IP addresses are retained to monitor and safeguard against improper usage of our services.
2.7 Content on the platform (added by staff, governors and students) and website content is added directly by School Users. This information is only used for to display on the platform in the way the user intends and is not used for any other purposes by eSchools. At a time when a school ceases to use our services the content is removed within a 14 day period as detailed in our agreement with the school.
2.8 Some of our services require the school to provide access to information they require for use with those services. For example a school using our communication tool, Letters Home, which enables schools to contact parents by email regarding important school information. In this situation a school will provide eSchools with access to the email address(es) they wish to send their communication to. Schools have granular access to ensure only the required data is shared and accessed by eSchools. The data is frequently updated to ensure that eSchools only retains up-to-date data.
3. Using your personal information
3.1. We may use your personal information to:
administer our services
enable your use of our services
troubleshoot and problem solve
send you email notifications that you have specifically requested. You can manage your preferences at anytime through your eSchools dashboard.
keep our services secure, safeguard against improper use of our services and prevent fraud.
3.1.1. For the purposes of providing you access to your eSchools platform and app (ie. forgotten password/login)
3.1.2. By registering for updates, School Staff/Governors are able to subscribe to our regular communications.
3.1.3. We will use any contact details supplied in an online form for the purposes explicitly detailed in said form. For example troubleshooting and problem solving or the provision of live online training as explicitly requested by you, the user.
3.2. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
3.3. eSchools understands our obligation to be mindful about the data we process and only process data that is required to fulfil our obligations in providing our services; to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user.
3.4. We will not pass your information to third parties; except for the purpose of fulfilling our services to a school who enters into an agreement to use our services and you, the user or where we are required to do so by law.
4. Disclosing personal information
4.1 We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
4.2 We may disclose your personal information:
to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;
in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);
to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information;
to the school in the case of improper use on the platform by individuals
4.3 Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.
5. International data transfers
5.1. Data directly collected by eSchools may be stored and processed in and transferred between any of the countries in which we operate in order to enable us to use the information in accordance with this policy. Any third party we use is within the EEA or they hold an existing EU SCC, as in line with requirements under the GDPR. No other third party are permitted to access the school’s data.
5.2. Personal information that an individual adds to our websites may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use or misuse of such information by others.
6. Retaining personal information
6.1. This section sets out our data retention policies and procedures, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.
6.2. Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes.
6.3. Data collected through analytic cookies will be retained for 26 months. Individual visitors can adapt the data collected through cookie preferences, as mentioned in 2.4.
6.4. Notwithstanding the other provisions of this Section 6, we will retain documents (including electronic documents) containing personal data:
To the extent that we are required to do so by law;
If we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and
In order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk). Data will no longer be kept after the termination of the contract with the school.
7. Security of your personal information
7.1. We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
7.2. We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers. The web service we employ has a broad range of accreditations and certifications and the data centres used ensure the data stays within the EEA.
7.3. eSchools use a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which creates a secure connection and uses two keys to encrypt data in transit. Despite this, you acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data.
8. Amendments
8.1. We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
8.2. You should check this page regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes to this policy.
9. Your rights
9.1. You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you.
9.2. We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
9.3. You may change your cookie preferences at any time as referenced in 2.4.
9.4. School Staff/Governors who subscribe to our Newsletter may manage their preferences at any time through their eSchools dashboard.
10. Third party websites
10.1 Our websites may include hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
11. Updating information
We will only provide communication about the eSchools platform to school staff/governors who can manage their preferences at any time through their eSchools dashboard.
Part 2: Cookie Policy
Last Edited: 22nd April 2021
This Cookie Policy explains how eSchools use cookies and similar technologies in our Services. It explains what these technologies are and why we use them, as well as your rights to control their use.
What are cookies?
Cookies are small data files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. Cookies are widely used by online service providers in order to (for example) make their websites or services work, or to work more efficiently, as well as to provide reporting information.
Cookies set by the website owner or service provider (in this case, eSchools) are called “first party cookies”. Cookies set by parties other than the website owner are called “third party cookies”. Third party cookies enable third party features or functionality to be provided on or through the website or service you are using (such as advertising, interactive content and analytics). The third parties that set these third party cookies can recognise your computer both when it visits the website or service in question and also when it visits certain other websites or services.
Why do we use cookies and other tracking technologies?
We use first party and third party cookies for several reasons. Some cookies are required for technical reasons in order for our Services to operate, and we refer to these as “essential” cookies. Other cookies enable us and the third parties we work with to track and target the interests of visitors to our Services, and we refer to these as “advertising” or “analytical” cookies. For example, the embedding of YouTube and Vimeo videos, as added by individual schools, will require “advertising” cookies to be enabled in order to successfully play them. Schools that, for example, opt to track visitor data using Google Analytics will require “analytical” cookies to be enabled in order to do so. These third party cookies are used to tailor content and information that we may send or display to you and otherwise personalise your experience while interacting with our Services and to otherwise improve the functionality of the Services we provide. We also enable schools to employ cookies and similar tracking technologies in connection with their use of our Services in order to allow them to track visitors to and interactions with their school website.
How eSchools Uses Cookies
eSchools websites may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us and to enrich your user experience. The cookies differ depending on the information. You can adapt your cookie preferences, although please note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
User Embedded Content
Our Services allows schools to embed code which may potentially contain cookies. Please note embedded content, if displayed on one of our websites, has been added by the school and not by eSchools. The embedded content added by the school may require additional cookies or tracking technologies to be enabled in order to function.
How can I control cookies?
You have the right to decide whether to accept or reject cookies. Be aware that cookie preferences are set on a per device basis; therefore you may need to set your preferences on each device you use.
Initial cookie pop-up banner: You can exercise preferences about what cookies are served on our Websites by selecting your preference from this modal which appears upon visiting an eSchools website/login screen and dashboard. You can also change your cookie preferences by clicking on the link on the footer of any page. The banner will reappear annually (August 31st to coincide with the academic year) to confirm your settings.
Browser Controls: You can set or amend your web browser controls to accept or refuse cookies. If you choose to reject cookies, you may still use our Websites though your access to some functionality and areas of our Websites may be restricted. As the means by which you can refuse cookies through your web browser controls vary from browser-to-browser, you should visit your browser’s help menu for more information.
Disabling Most Interest Based Advertising: Most advertising networks offer you a way to opt out of Interest Based Advertising. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing. If you would like to find out more information, please visit aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.com.
Mobile Advertising: You can opt out of having your mobile advertising identifiers used for certain types of Interest Based Advertising, by accessing the settings on your Apple or Android mobile device and following the most recent published instructions. We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.
How often will you update this Cookie Statement?
We may update this Cookie Statement from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to the cookies we use or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. Please therefore re-visit this Cookie Statement regularly to stay informed about our use of cookies and related technologies. The date at the bottom of this Cookie Statement indicates when it was last updated.
Where can I get further information?
If you have any questions about our use of cookies or other technologies, please email us at support@.eschools.co.uk.