Dozens of Year 4 pupils from schools in Haverhill showed off their talents at an event put on to celebrate their first year of learning a musical instrument.

School children from Burton End, Westfield and Place Farm primary schools all spent Monday at Haverhill Arts Centre where they took part in the Suffolk County Music Service’s Whole Class Ensemble Teaching’s (WCET) celebration event.

It was the first day in a week-long festival of music-making for those Key Stage 2 pupils that take part in the WCET programme.

Throughout the morning pupils took part in a mixture of singing and instrumental workshops with the Music Service, which is run by Suffolk County Council.

The arts centre was alive with the sound of 57 violins, 73 clarinets and 29 guitars as the children were put through their paces.

All schools united to perform ‘Beginners’ Beguine’ by Brian Bonsor.

The piece was written especially for pupils of a beginner standard, offering opportunities for differentiation within each group.

All schools also sand ‘Building’ by Richard Stilgoe, a song that links with a variety of different topics and musical concepts.

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To encourage ensemble playing, all pupils were also able to play a piece alongside each other, enabling them to meet their peers from other schools who are learning the same or similar instrument(s).

Each group of instruments was also designated its own piece of music, such as La Colombina for the guitar, ‘Shepherd’s Hay for brass

and ‘Blue Shoe Shuffle’ for strings.