On Friday 21st October there was
an assembly to present the certificates to the successful candidates entered
for the ABRSM practical music examinations. This is the fourth year we have
held the exams at Mead school. Most primary schools put one or two candidates
per year in for the exams, but Mead is unusual in that we have enough
candidates to qualify for a ‘special visit’. This is where the ABRSM send an
examiner to the school and it becomes a test centre. The school has to be able
to offer at least three hours of examinations.
These are practical exams and the pupil has
to prepare three pieces of music from the board’s syllabus. The better they can
play these pieces, the higher the marks they will get. Singers have to prepare
four songs – three accompanied and one unaccompanied.
They also have to sight play or sing. This
is where they are given a piece of music they have never seen before and the
have 30 seconds to look through it before trying to play it.
The next element of the exam is the aural
(ear) test. This involves them having to clap back the beat of a piece of music
played by the examiner. They then have to say if it was 2/4, ¾ or 2/4 time.
They have to sing back short sections of melody and final listen whilst the
examiner plays a piece of music through twice, the second time there is a
change to music. They have to spot the change.
As you can see, the exams are quite
demanding and are widely recognized around the world. They can even help you
with college entry and job applications as they so dedication and application.
Here is a list of this years successful
candidates.
Candidate
|
Subject
|
Grade
|
Cat
|
Giovanna Alves Rodrigues
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Sophie Andreetti-Brown
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Rianne Bowers
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Amelia Christie
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Amba Cordell
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Cody Cordell
|
Singing
|
2
|
Pass
|
Ella Craze
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Isabelle Cutts
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Madison Cutts
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Abbie Harding
|
Piano
|
2
|
Merit
|
Aimee Ince
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Caitlin Kilroy
|
Singing
|
3
|
Pass
|
Grace McNess
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Kian Muwenda Simbwa
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Daniel Otokpa
|
Singing
|
3
|
Pass
|
Aleena Seleka
|
Singing
|
1
|
Pass
|
Caleb Shorter
|
Recorder
|
2
|
Pass
|
Lia Summer
|
Singing
|
2
|
Pass
|
Some of these pupils have moved on to their
secondary schools and it good to seem them all return to Mead for the assembly.
They are all looking to continue their musical interests at their respective
secondary schools.
About The ABRSM
The Associated Board of the Royal
Schools of Music (ABRSM) is an examinations board and registered charity based
in London, United Kingdom, which provides examinations in music at centres
around over the world. The ABRSM is one of three examination boards accredited
by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualifications in music within the
UK's National Qualifications Framework (along with the London College of Music
and Trinity College London).
The Royal Schools referred to in the
board's title are:
·
The Royal Academy of Music
·
The Royal College of Music
·
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
·
The Royal Northern College of Music
More
than 650,000 candidates take the ABRSM examinations each year in over 93
countries. The board also provides a publishing house for music that produces
syllabuses, sheet music and exam papers and runs professional development
courses and seminars for teachers.
