On Wednesday the Year 7s were taken to St Lukes, Old Street, where they learnt about, and played traditional Indonesian music.
Gamelan is the name given to the music of Indonesia. The Gamelan orchestra is made up of predominately metallophones and other percussive instruments including drums and gongs.
We left FHS at 10am and headed for Sloane Square station; a couple of the girls were a little nervous at first to take the tube, but soon relaxed and became rather excited by the trip! We arrived at Barbican station and had a short walk to the Church, which was full of character on the outside and beautifully renovated on the inside to provide lots of extra space for the exciting workshops that they host.
The year of 62 pupils was split into two groups so that everyone could get equal opportunities to play the instruments. The workshop was led by Andy who taught us about respecting the instruments, including the removal of our shoes whilst playing! The pupils got a chance to play an instrument from each of the three families, ensuring that they understood the role of the instruments and the rhythms that they were responsible for. Whilst the first group was playing and learning about the Gamelan the second group were given a worksheet to complete with the help of notes (and the music teachers), and once that was finished we all headed outside to enjoy our lunch in the sunshine.
We then returned to FHS and were caught in a sudden downpour of rain on the walk back from Sloane Square station!
