This month in school, we’ve been enjoying the sunny sounds of reggae pioneer, Bob Marley.

We highlight different musicians each month so that the children are exposed to, and can begin to appreciate, a wide range of music from across the world.

This month, Sameer in our reception class, RWC, got into the groove of Bob Marley.
But, if he had to give an honest answer, it’s David Bowie who’s been his favourite musician of recent months. At parents evening last week, his mum proudly recalled a recent family visit to Leeds Corn Exchange.
Whilst there, Sameer noticed a music stall. He spotted a picture of Bob Marley and asked the stall-owner whether they had a Bob Marley t-shirt for sale.

The stall-owner was taken-aback by this precocious 4-year-old, and had to apologise: they didn’t. Would you like a different t-shirt?

“David Bowie?” answered Sameer without dropping a beat. Again, the stall-owner was overwhelmed by our ACE musician, but could only scrape together a timid apology: no Bowie tees either.

Well done Sameer for joining in with that music discussion and making comments about what you’ve learned at school!

We wanted a cinematic start to the year with our Musician of the Month. As we drummed our fingers on the table we noticed the coffee in our cups start to ripple. Was a dinosaur walking down the school corridor?

NO – of course not; it was the vibrations from our table drumming, but it did turn our attention to the composer of countless hummable scores, John Williams.

Watch Steven Spielberg praise John Williams’ accompaniments:

Topic for discussion: what difference does it make when a film is backed up with music?