Music Department Handbook
The Music Department Handbook contains full details of all the music provision at Central Foundation Boys’ School.
Apply for instrument lessons at Central Foundation Boys’ School
Music
Restore the Music’s Battle of the Bands
The school’s music provision is one of its strengths. It is delivered before, during and after school day.
- All students learn a musical instrument up to the end of Year 9.
- 140 students take individual music lessons at the school each week.
- The school runs a full orchestra, a string ensemble, a wind ensemble, rock bands, a jazz band, a drumming group and a choir. Practice for these groups takes place at ‘Music School’ which is run between 8 and 9 each morning.
- The provision caters for beginners as well as more advanced musicians.
- All activities and music lessons are provided for free.
 CFBS Strings Orchestra performs with Sinfonia Strings from Trinity Laban |
 Music Assembly |
CFBS Jazz Evening
Music forms a compulsory part of the school curriculum. Our ongoing partnership with the Music in Secondary Schools Trust allows every students in Yr 7-9 to learn and instrument, either a viola, violin or flute. The teaching is delivered both in class and small groups with MiSST music tutors.
Our termly music assemblies allow the students to play together, as a Year group.
Students who wish to develop their music skills further, attend at least one (often more) activity delivered through our CFBS Music School.
Advanced musicians attend Saturday MiSST Orchestra sessions and have opportunities to enter into national competitions such as Pro-Corda National Schools’ Chamber Music Festival, of which Central Foundation Strings Ensemble was the winner in 2023 and a finalist in 2024.
One of our long standing Music School students, now in Year 12, successfully auditioned for the National Youth Orchestra.
The students have numerous opportunities to perform both themselves and with professional musicians. The first annual Jazz Evening in 2024 started with our Jazz Band enjoying a tour and a jamming session at Ronnie Scott’s, an iconic London jazz venue.
Over 10% of our student population has had several opportunities to participate in workshops with the Sinfonia Strings from Trinity Laban and the musicians from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where they rehearsed with the professional musicians and then performed a piece together in our new Hearn Centre Theatre.
Most recently, the CFBS musicians received a morning of coaching and playing with the world-renowned Simon Bolivar Orchestra of Venezuela who visited London for two special performances at the Barbican.
The students can also access summer residential courses such as those run at Blundell’s School and Ardingly Arts Festival in the summer.
Eduard and Sam with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Winter Concert
 Central Symphony Orchestra |
 CFBS Choir |
 Fret Wrx, Drum Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, and the CFBS Choir. |
 Jazz Band & String Ensemble |
Summer Holiday 2026 Updates
The end of the last term saw the Music Department’s inaugural Summer Music School residential course. Thank you to all the students for their hard work and parents for their support. It was a great success!
We are delighted that this summer holiday an unprecedented number of our Music School students were involved in musical activities.
These include:
- National Youth Orchestra
Year 13 leaver Eduard performed in the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall with the National Youth Orchestra, the UK’s premier orchestra for young people.
- National Children’s Orchestra
The foremost orchestra in the country for Under 14’s.
- Pro Corda
A number of our students received scholarships to attend Pro Corda, a residential course sited in Suffolk offering ‘daily chamber music coaching… with the world’s leading players to form the coaching staff’.
- Young Grittleton
A week-long chamber music course in Wiltshire, for string players ages 11-18.
- Trinity Laban Summer School
An intensive 4-day course, offering orchestras, bands, and various workshops exploring different strands of musicianship.
- Guildhall Wind Brass & Percussion Summer School
A course offering both ensembles, and individual masterclasses- specifically for wind, brass and percussion players.
It’s brilliant to see so many students continuing their musical development during the holiday.
Music is at the heart of the CFBS experience and our team is here to support all our students, regardless of their previous musical training. That’s why our department motto is musical excellence for everyone.
To live up to this motto, we offer a detailed programme of musical activities both inside and outside the classroom, including:
- Classroom Music Lesson, in partnership with MiSST
- Whole Year Group Music Assemblies
- Music School every Tuesday – Friday at 8am
- One-to-One music lessons, with our team of highly skilled instrument teachers
An overview of the music provision available to students at CFBS can be found in the handbook below. If you have a question that is not answered in this handbook, please email the Director of Music, Mr Haylor at HaylorA@cfbs.islington.sch.uk
Practice Pal:
We are currently piloting the use of the Practice Pal App at Central Foundation to give parents instant access to students music lesson timetables. We also hope to be able to integrate room booking and teacher feedback into the app soon. All parents should have received an invitation to join Practice Pal via email. Please contact Mr Haylor for any assistance with this.
Music Development Plan
The school’s Music Development Plan outlines our current musical provision, how this is delivered and our focus for the future. It is available to review here and if you have any queries about it, please contact Mr Haylor.