Digital pipe organ offers exciting opportunities

The Royal College of Organists initiative "Organs in Schools" has chosen Hethersett Academy to receive a fully-funded digital pipe organ, as part of their strategy to boost numbers of organ players.

The RCO has brought in this initiative in response to an increasing body of evidence that shows today's children are less likely to experience the organ in their traditional home - places of worship - and so the Royal College of Organists has sought ways to take the organ to children in schools.

The scheme was launched in 2021, with the intent to secure funding for instruments in schools where there is the infrastructure and potential for the development of organ playing and musicianship, Hethersett Academy is one of the schools that has been chosen to be the recipient of a digital pipe organ as part of this project.

Opportunities that this organ will bring include 1-1 organ lessons, delivered by our Trust Visiting Music Teacher team, with the first organ students starting in the past few weeks!

It also allows new ways to support teaching, with the ability to demonstrate the instrument to all students. Recently a demonstration of the pipe organ to 270 Year 8 students was made as part of their study of J S Bach's famous Toccata & Fugue in D Minor.

Our students at Hethersett Academy show our values everyday, in particular Embracing Opportunities. Offering organ lessons and demonstrations to classes as part of our music curriculum is so beneficial in opening up options for our students. Allowing students to discover new things and make the most of their time at school is embedded in our school vision and values.