Music to our ears: Plympton Academy celebrates Music Mark School status

Plympton Academy, located on Moorland Road, is delighted to become an independent member of the Plymouth Music Hub which supports, connects and influences Music Mark members in pursuit of a high quality, diverse and inclusive music education for all. In turn, the academy will see it offer many more exciting Arts opportunities to its students.

Plympton Academy is part of the high-performing Thinking Schools Academy Trust, which leads 18 successful primary and secondary schools in Medway, Kent, Plymouth and Portsmouth.

As part of Plympton Academy’s mission to “transform life chances,” the Academy believes it has a responsibility to build young people’s cultural capital. This includes offering opportunities for students to explore and immerse themselves in the Arts and learn about the wider world.

Plympton has done this by providing students with state-of-the-art equipment to compose and experiment with sound which has led to the students hosting their very own 80s Concert and providing music to the Academy’s most recent performance of Mary Poppins. This breadth and depth of offering have led to the Academy becoming a member of the Plymouth Music Hub and achieving Music Mark status.

Excitingly, by becoming a Music Mark School, the Academy will now be able to provide students with access to an ever-wider array of professional resources and music workshops such as ‘Discover making music on iPads’ to understanding musical theory. This will help to expand students' cultural knowledge and encourage them to engage in new experiences. It will also support their personal growth and extend their knowledge beyond the curriculum.

In addition, becoming a Plymouth Music Hub member and Music Mark School will mean Plympton Academy can develop further links with other local schools to allow students to work together to organise future music shows and concerts.

Nicky Clapson, Head of Music at Plympton Academy, said: “The Music department is committed to offering the best musical experiences to our students and is fully inclusive no matter previous experience. We have joined Music Mark to support this commitment and to emphasise the Academy-wide support for high-quality Music education that we provide our students. We look forward to being able to offer Music projects and opportunities from industry practitioners to enhance the high-quality provisions that we already provide.”

Willow McDaniel, a student at Plympton Academy, said: “The Music department has given me a voice and is the place where I feel most confident and free to express myself. The Academy puts a High importance on the value of music, and the department provides opportunities for everyone to be involved.”

Mandy Gage, Director of Education at the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, said: This is a fantastic achievement of all the staff and students’ hard work, dedication, and determination at Plympton Academy. The Academy has consistently stayed true to "Transforming life chances" of students in the local community by offering them unique and exciting ways to build their knowledge of the Arts and express themselves. I can’t wait to see what performances students and staff will host next year for parents and the wider community of Plympton.”