In S3, students learn to improvise using the Blues scale. Through homework tasks, students deepen their understanding of the origin of Blues music and how slavery impacted on the life of African people in the 19th Century. An excerpt from one of the articles set for reading:
When you think of the blues, you think about misfortune, betrayal and regret. You lose your job, you get the blues. Your mate falls out of love with you, you get the blues. Your dog dies, you get the blues.
While blues lyrics often deal with personal adversity, the music itself goes far beyond self-pity. The blues is also about overcoming hard luck, saying what you feel, ridding yourself of frustration, letting your hair down, and simply having fun. The best blues is visceral, cathartic, and starkly emotional. From unbridled joy to deep sadness, no form of music communicates more genuine emotion.
The blues has deep roots in American history, particularly African-American history. The blues originated on Southern plantations in the 19th Century. Its inventors were slaves, ex-slaves and the descendants of slaves—African-American sharecroppers who sang as they toiled in the cotton and vegetable fields. It’s generally accepted that the music evolved from African spirituals, African chants, work songs, field hollers, rural fife and drum music, revivalist hymns, and country dance music.
With the start of the new timetable, our S2 classes have been taking a look past the croissants and wine, to see who the people are that really make up France – which countries have influenced this rich and diverse cultural melting pot, which religions, the spectrum of wealth in French society and its impact on how people interact…and even how sport (in the form of the 1995 France World Cup) can bring countries closer together.
By taking a tongue-in-cheek look at Sami’s story, we have been exploring France as it is today. Here’s a sneak peek:
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We believe in preparing our pupils to be citizens of the world, to be active contributors who are aware of their rights and responsibilities in the world around them, to be aware of the major issues and to know how to make a positive difference in the world. Please have a look at what we do to make our world a better place.
We are a Fairtrade School – in June we were awarded the FairAchiever aware – the highest level in the Fairtrade Schools Award scheme.
What did we do to achieve this? – We had to demonstrate that Fairtrade is embedded in all aspects of school life. We learn about Fairtrade in our subjects, we organise Fairtrade tuck shops and eat lots of Fairtrade chocolate, as well as healthier snacks, we promote Fairtrade products whenever possible, we have sold Fairtrade rice form Malawi, the staff drink an amazing quantity of Fairtrade coffee and we work with the local community to promote Fairtrade in and around North Berwick. We have designed Fairtrade tea-towels, held a fashion show and held a mini football tournament using Fairtrade footballs.
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