TreeHouse School has been shortlisted in two categories in this year’s awards. Outstanding School Music Department, and Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama).
We’re proud to announce that TreeHouse School has been shortlisted in two categories in the Music & Drama Education Awards 2021. Our music department was shortlisted in the Outstanding School Music Department category. While our ukulele project, led by Performing Arts Lead, Patxi Del Amo, has also been shortlisted in the category Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama).
The winners will be announced on Wednesday, 24 March 2021, at 6.00pm at a free online event accessible via the Music and Drama Education Awards website and on heir Facebook page.
Our nomination for Outstanding School Music Department highlighted the music department's contribution to ensuring every child makes progress at TreeHouse School. In addition to the school's weekly music and performing arts lessons, we have a Makaton choir, a ukulele club, in-house concerts by visiting musicians, a rap club, a brass band and sensory music opportunities.
Tracey Capstick, TreeHouse Head of School, said, "we strive to celebrate what ‘we can do’, by looking at each individual pupil's strengths and building upon these. The music department is no exception to this… it continually allows our pupils to shine and the chance to have their voices heard. In an environment where all pupils have communication difficulties, with 45% being non-verbal, music is a powerful form of expression."
The school ukulele project has also been recognised as one of the shortlisted entries in the Excellence in SEND (Music & Drama) category. This wonderful initiative supports pupils from assembling and designing their ukulele to learning to play. As part of this project, pupils develop key skills for life, such as sequencing, waiting, measuring and checking. The sessions were also conducted to calm ukulele background music. Patxi del Amo said of the pupils’ experience, “they took incredible care of their work, with comments like, ‘I haven’t finished. I want to sand the neck block until it makes a perfect fit', and ‘Man, your varnish looks smooth!’”
Despite the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, three TreeHouse School Ukulele Bands have been created in KS2, KS3 and KS5. They hope to perform for friends and family as soon as it is safe to do so.
Patxi said, “we sing and play with our friends using instruments that we have made with our own hands and cannot wait to see how far we can take this.”
Watch the awards presentation online
Music & Drama Education Awards website: https://www.musicdramaedawards.com/watch-the-virtual-awards
Music & Drama Education Awards Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/241295357503541
The show is free for anyone to watch, so please share with your colleagues, friends and family.
Join in the conversation on Twitter #MDEAWARDS
