Pilgrims’ Music Department: a year of harmony and achievement

As the academic year draws to a close, we reflect on a year filled with musical achievements at Pilgrims.

Mrs Knight, Head of Music, and Mrs Bagnall, Visiting Music Teacher, share their highlights and proudest accomplishments from this incredible academic year.

Mrs Knight’s highlights and achievements

One of my standout achievements has been the remarkable growth of the string ensemble. Through dedicated recruitment efforts, the ensemble now boasts a record number of talented students.

I am particularly proud of the students who took their ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) examinations in violin, singing and piano. Their hard work paid off with excellent results.

I am also proud of the number of entrants we had for the Bedford Festival this year. We had individual pianists, singers, violinists, a choir, drama group, string ensemble and school orchestra.

This year, we have continued to enjoy our visits to local retirement homes with the choir children from Year 1 and 2.  We always have a great time singing and playing games with the residents.

We also had a brilliant bassoon quartet visit this year. The visit was great for the children to hear more unusual instruments.

On a personal level, I hosted a music guidance day for teachers from other schools who wanted guidance on teaching music and running a choir.

Mrs Bagnall’s highlights and achievements

My biggest highlight from this school year has been String Group. We have a record number of students playing every week and making a terrific sound.

We play lots of fun repertoire in anything from one to three parts, and we have recently started developing the children’s improvisation skills too.

A standout achievement for me this year has been introducing the viola as an instrument option for children this year.  I gave an assembly last year with the cello teacher to Year 1 and Reception to talk about string instruments. I brought my friend’s viola in to demonstrate to the children what a beautiful instrument it is.  The next week I had my first sign-up and I have another student starting next year.

I feel really proud to be introducing the viola to the children at Pilgrims. I am passionate about keeping the next generation of orchestras going and viola players are always in short supply.

My other great achievement is putting one of my violin students in for her Grade 1 exam.

Attempting Grade 1 at this young age is unusual and takes a lot of dedication from the student (and her parents).

We have never had a Pilgrims student take Grade 1 violin before, so it’s been a lovely milestone for me as a teacher too.

I am proud of all my exam students for how hard they have worked this year and hope that they have enjoyed the process and found the challenges exciting!

As we celebrate these achievements, we also look forward to the continued growth and success of our music department. Angela and Lottie are both excited to see what the next academic year will bring, confident that their students will continue to thrive and make beautiful music.