Music curriculum and extra curricular music activities at YSS school and community
Music making is at the heart of our school curriculum as Steiner education holds music as an essential component for a healthy child’s development, which helps them connect with their inner creativity and foster wellbeing.
In kindergarten children sing and move to music daily, and teachers sing/chant all instructions to simple tunes.
Children in classes 1 to 10 have weekly music lessons, with classes 3, 4, and 5 having a double lesson each week. These lessons involve both singing and instrumental playing.
The main classroom instrument in the lower classes is the recorder, yet students are also introduced to lyres, ukuleles, guitars, melodicas, bar instruments (xylophones, glockenspiels) and other percussion instruments.
From class 4 onwards, basic music theory concepts are taught. In the Upper School, music lessons cover music history, harmony singing, and ensemble playing. The selection of repertoire and complexity of arrangements is guided by an understanding of child development based in Anthroposophy.
All classes participate in singing and playing during end-of-term festivals and other celebrations attended by parents. Occasionally, school assemblies are dedicated entirely to music, offering advanced players the chance to perform before the entire school.
Each class also performs an annual play laced with singing and instrumental playing, with the Class 8 production being a full-length theatrical experience, where all students sing and those able also play their personal instruments.
The Upper School runs weekly choir sessions for classes 9 and 10, where choral repertoire for mixed male and female voices is explored.
As part of the extracurricular activities on offer at York Steiner School, children from class 4 and up are invited to join the school choir, which gets to perform on a regular basis at school festivals, fairs, and open days. Private piano, violin, guitar, and flute lessons are similarly available on-site, led by peripatetic teachers.
The school hosts junior and senior folk clubs, run by volunteer parent musicians, where children and adults play together in an inclusive and joyful context. These inter-generational groups provide music for the annual Maypole festival, as well as perform at school fairs and open days.
Instrumental concerts are held biannually on Sunday afternoons, whilst the school choir, in collaboration with a local adult chamber choir, hosts a Christmas concert — these events are very popular with the wider school community.
At least once a year, the school organizes ceilidh events featuring the school's own live senior folk band, where children and adults can enjoy dancing together to lively traditional Scottish and Irish music.
Last year we established a new tradition - Music for a Summer Solstice: a gala concert for the whole family, where the York Steiner School community musicians present a vibrant celebration of classical, folk, jazz, blues, choral music - an inspirational musical event for all ages.
