It takes a village to raise a child!

A decade of Inspirational Music at Chellaston Junior

For the last decade, CJS has worked in partnership with Hot House Music to provide a rich, interesting and inspirational music experience for pupils. The success of this collaboration is a result of many factors:

• True collaboration: The staff at Hot House all have such a vibrant, positive and friendly approach; they are a joy to work alongside. The key is great communication with the school and a flexible, “can do” attitude. The relationship has been a true collaboration.

• Excellent teaching: The music teaching from Hot House is a very high quality. The staff are highly trained musicians, experts in their field and outstanding performers in their own right.

• Enjoyment: All the pupils absolutely love the music experience with Hot House. Whether this is a whole school assembly, a whole class “Hot Shots” lesson, individual tuition, involvement with the after school club, or the Hot House Band in the evening. They make learning fun so that everyone wants to be part of the journey.

• Positive Relationships: Hot House staff have a very positive manner when teaching. They work with a smile on their face and inspire a love of learning. There are no issues with discipline, as all the children feel they belong and are fully engaged in the experience.

• Skills for Life: Alongside the musical focus, Hot House place equal importance on developing the skills and attitudes needed for children to be life-long learners and happy, successful adults. Resilience, teamwork, respect are all as important as music.

• Safeguarding is paramount: Staff at Hothouse have been trained in safeguarding by senior school staff trained at Level 4. The school are therefore very confident that Hot House staff follow the same procedures so that we work together to keep all children safe.

• Integrity and Trust:Over the last decade, Hot House staff have demonstrated real integrity in all matters. The school can therefore work with Hot House in an atmosphere of mutual trust. The school have observed many sessions and have total confidence that a high quality music provision is maintained.

• Inspirational Leadership: Jon Eno, recently recognised with a British Empire Medal, and Stuart McCrone, lead Hot House with great expertise, enthusiasm and integrity. The strength of leadership is key to the success of Hot House.

What do Hot House do at CJS?

• Year 4 Hot Shots: Each class in Year 4 has half a year of whole class music teaching. All children have the opportunity to play a musical instrument each week, while learning key music skills and playing in a class orchestra, which culminates in a wonderful celebration to which parents are invited. The feedback from parents has been extremely positive.

• Individual Tuition: Hot House provide a wide range of tuition including brass, woodwind, guitar, piano, percussion and singing. Over recent years, we have seen the number of children who have experienced instrumental tuition increase by over 300%.

• Hot House Club: Each week, after school, we are able to offer a music club to pupils, free of charge. The children play fun games involving a range of music and inter-personal skills.

• Hot House Band: There is an opportunity for pupils at CJS to play alongside older students and staff as part of the Hot House Band, who play concerts locally and all over the world! This gives a window into the potential of music for future career and life experiences.

• Assemblies and Concerts: Hot House lead a number of assemblies over the year. They perform music brilliantly and these experiences serve to educate and inspire al the pupils at the school. They also perform various concerts including a Community Christmas Concert for parents, grandparents and the local community. Hot House have also performed at Christmas Fairs, CJS is 50 celebrations and many other school events across the last decade.

Hot House are an inspiration to everyone at CJS. They have been an integral part of the success of the school and it has been a huge privilege to work alongside them for the last decade.

James Emery, Headteacher, Chellaston Junior School, July 2019