Year 5 had a fantastic time this week immersing themselves in the expressive world of Gustav Holst’s The Planets.
The children began their learning with Venus, a beautifully calm and reflective piece. They listened carefully and thoughtfully, discussing key musical features such as recurring motifs, texture and pitch. Using their growing understanding, the children then created their own graphic notation scores, drawing what they heard and felt in the music. It was wonderful to see their creativity shine as they translated sound into visual form.
The journey continued with the lively and much trickier Mercury. To support their understanding of rhythm, the children explored a fun and memorable phrase — “sitting on a beautiful planet, look at me” — which helped them internalise the musical patterns. Through this playful approach, the children built confidence with more complex rhythms while enjoying the process of learning together.
To finish, the classroom was filled with energy and teamwork as the children used boomwhackers to pass a musical phrase around a circle, listening carefully and staying in time with one another. This activity encouraged collaboration, focus and joy in shared music-making.
Mrs Pywell, our Music Leader, shared:
“It has been wonderful to see how confidently the children have engaged with such rich and expressive music. Their ability to listen deeply, interpret creatively and perform together reflects the heart of our music curriculum.”
This inspiring lesson truly reflected our school vision to Love, Learn, Shine — with children showing a love of music, developing new skills through learning, and shining through their creativity and collaboration. 🎶✨
