Mrs Woodhouse (Year 5 Teacher)

As part of their How We Express Ourselves transdisciplinary Unit of Enquiry, the Year 5 girls enjoyed an immersive Gamelan music workshop on Wednesday morning.  

Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The word gamelan comes from the Javanese word ‘gamel’ which means hammer. Each class played together using the concepts of rhythm and tone and made memorable melodies!

The girls thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and developed knowledge and appreciation of music unique to another culture. Read the pupil reflections below:

Naomi: “I found it really fun playing instruments that I’ve never played before. It was really surprising that we created a nice piece of music in time!”

Sienna: “The Gamelan music workshop gave me enough courage to try new things and express myself through playing new instruments and it gave me the time to realise how much instruments and music can make a connection with your body.” 

Hollie: “It was very spiritual and very calming, I liked how it was very nice to hear the leader of the workshop play a traditional tune and it was very nice to hear it and then play it.” 

Xanthe: “It was really fun because we got to learn how people from different countries express themselves through music.”