ICT continues to be a strength at Woodham Academy. Whilst children (and teachers!) enjoy the summer sun the IT department will be replacing every single machine in the school to provide staff and students access to the latest software and hardware available.
As part of the development in ICT the music department are also moving forward to give students a more wide-ranging experience of music and music technology. iPads were introduced to curriculum learning at the start of this year, and many students have found this beneficial, either from being able to more easily record their performance and composition work, or simply from being able to use apps to help develop their musicianship skills.
From September 2013, all KS4 music students will receive at least one lesson a week in the new Mac suite, where they will be able to use software such as Sibelius and GarageBand to produce their GCSE composition work.
The recent addition of midi keyboards gives the opportunity for students of all ages to easily compose, perform and record their own pieces.
Current year 8 students Ben Greenow and Lewis Foulger have found it particularly enjoyable using the new equipment: “The midi key-boards are great; they’re really easy to use, and they give you much more control over what you are doing in GarageBand. We like having wider range of ways to create our own music now.”
