MUSIC is not just a powerful form of communication, it also adds colour and vibrancy to our world. And here at Wolverley our music department is a veritable rainbow of different colours, thanks to the immense variety of sounds emanating from our rock bands, singers, orchestra, junk and samba bands.

The first thing that strikes visitors is the sheer exuberance of the sounds as students enthusiastically express themselves through the medium of music.

Because of the number of concerts and performances we stage throughout the year, we are always incredibly busy and Wolverley is fortunate in that we always seem to have more than our fair share of incredibly talented students. The number of students participating in the performances – and those who are opting to continue studying music into key stages four and five – is growing each year.

In September, more than 200 students from years seven and eight were treated to a live performance from up and coming pop star Ben Montague. The students enjoyed a 30 minute acoustic set of original songs by the singer/songwriter who was accompanied by another Ben – from his backing band – on guitar. The performance came to a thrilling finale with the students singing along to Ben’s acoustic version of the Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody.

Ben held a question and answer session and spent half an hour signing autographs and giving out copies of his CD. Assistant head teacher and director of music, Sheena Howard, said: “Not only did Ben show off his great talent as a musician and songwriter, he also related well to the students and they had a fantastic time.”

In November a full house was entertained by over 120 students at the Arts ‘Winter Wonder’ showcase. High quality dance, drama and musical styles were on show from a number of soloists and groups.

Our annual carol service is always a special occasion, starting with the bell ringers chiming out their seasonal message. This is followed by the spine-tingling candlelit procession. The service always finishes with a rousing rendition of O Come all ye Faithful raising the roof of Wolverley’s St John the Baptist Church.

March was our busiest month of the year with three concerts to be organised. As part of their events management unit, the year 13 BTEC music students organised Battle of the Bands. The year 12 BTEC music students won the overall prize for their performance of Stop Crying Your Heart Out. A week later, the year 12 BTEC music students held another concert for their extended performances.

Our biggest concert in March is our Pyramid Concert, held at Kidderminster Town Hall where we are joined by our pyramid primary schools. This year’s theme was musicals and the audience was treated to a variety of songs from classics such as Oliver! and The Sound of Music, as well as modern productions such as Mamma Mia! and Buddy. There were whoops of appreciation as the concert opened with songs from The Rocky Horror Show and pretty soon everybody in the audience was doing The Time Warp!

Cookley performed first and the audience needed little encouragement to sing along to Mamma Mia. Next came Wolverley Sebright students who donned their specs to become mini Buddy Hollies. St Catherine’s choir sang beautifully and entertained with an ensemble of 30 flute players. St Mary’s stole the show with their version of Breaking Free from High School Musical.

The Wolverley band brought a little rock to the proceedings with American Idiot from the Green Day musical of the same name. The finale of Go West and Tragedy were met with rapturous applause from the audience.

In the summer term, the music department helped to organise a pyramid Church Service at St Mary’s Church, Kidderminster. The theme was “a celebration of our community” and each school performed a piece of music, poetry or drama along this theme. We all sang Give Me Oil in my Lamp and finished with We are Family. During the service, each school made a jigsaw with their own individually decorated jigsaw pieces joined together to make a whole image. This was one of the last services for the Reverend Canon Owain Bell and he was deeply touched by the schools’ performances.

One of our final music performances was during the ‘movie themed’ Wolverley Carnival which took place on July 6. Students sang a medley of songs whilst at the same time trying to balance on the moving float – now there was a challenge!