Sujana van der Merwe : Director of Music
Sonja Love : Music Teacher in Junior School
MUSIC at Chesterhouse School is offerend both curricular and extra-curricular.
Curricular Mucis at Chesterhouse:
- is an imperative part of our curriculum and is incorporated into the school’s academic weekly timetable from Nursery classes to Grade 9;
- develops both the logical and creative side of children which enables them to use all the talents they have;
- strengthens our pupils’ mental abilities through the discipline required to learn a musical instrument, the musical notes to a composition and remembering the lyrics to a song;
- is fun, filled with joy and liberating.
CMS Information Notice : CMS – INFORMATION 2012
CMS Application document : CMS – APPLICATION 2012
Extra-curricular Music at Chesterhouse:
Welcome to the Chesterhouse Music School – the CMS. Since the inception of the CMS in 2009, interest in this vital part of a holistic education has grown from strength to strength. More and more of our children are enthusiastically participating in music and all that it offers.
Currently the CMS offers more than 200 music lessons per week outside of the timetables “Class Music” (Nursery to Year 7) and “General Music Knowledge” (Grades 8 and 9) lessons.
Individual music tuition is offered by 12 specialist teachers in:
- piano
- violin
- cello
- clarinet
- saxophone
- guitar (classical, folk, electric)
- drums
- recorder
- flute
- keyboard
- voice (singing)
A core value to the CMS is “Specialised Theory”.
Children learn these various disciplines from the age of 5 or 6 in our Reception classes right through to our pupils completing their matriculation year. We enrol some children and adults from outside of Chesterhouse School and are proud to say that four of our own teachers have taken private music lessons with the CMS in different disciplines.
Chesterhouse School also has three School choirs (two in the Junior School and one in our Senior School). These choirs perform regularly and represent Chesterhouse School’s biggest teams.
We enter external music competitions and external examinations (UNISA, the Associated Board of Royal Schools, London, the Classical Trinity Guildhall, London Trinity exams as well as the Rock School offered by Trinity) – our children fare very well, mostly achieving great success. We have a range of children who in this year alone have achieved Highest Honours in their exams, including one of our pupils who achieved the highest marks possible in an external examination.
We aim to please – and teach!
Sujana Van der Merwe
Director of Music
BMus ED
