School of Noise Workshop

Explore the wonderful world of sound with the School of Noise. Our workshops are designed to investigate the science of sound and provide pupils with a hands-on opportunity to conduct their own experiments and play on a range of musical instruments.

'The School of Noise is one of those ideas that you just KNOW is right: bringing back a sense of wonder & accessibility to music-making. Music is organised noise and organising noise is fun!'

- Jarvis Cocker

'This morning the kids were still talking about the instruments and how vibrations create art. This is how I know it has been a successful workshop! We will be in touch again for next year's workshop.'

- Childeric Primary School (Year 4)

'Thank you for your brilliant sessions, the staff and children had nothing but positive feedback. We will definitely be booking in for next year.'

- Julian's Primary School (Year 4)

'It has been a real pleasure having you in. Both teachers and our pupils have learnt so much from you. The pupils were so enthused about the workshop and it is something they will be talking about for a long time. We will definitely book you again. '

- Whitehall Primary School (Year 4)

'Your workshop provided an exciting and fascinating start to our sound topic'

- St Olaves Primary School (Year 4)

'School of Noise ' where future Aphex Twins can make their own experimental electronic beats.'

- The Guardian

'Thank you for coming along to our school, the feedback from parents and carers has been fantastic and we've continued their learning back in the classroom following the workshop. The children thoroughly enjoyed the workshops and how practical and engaging they were.'

- St Andrew's Primary, Barnet

'Thank you for a great day. The children came back from your sessions extremely enthused having learnt a great deal'

- Childeric Primary School (Year 4)

'It was great to work with you. Thank you for taking part, it was amazing!'

- Museum of London

'Thank you so much for yesterday, the children had a great time and have had their eyes opened to a whole new world of sound design and music-making that they didn't know existed. There is a lovely musical buzz around the school.'

- Hamstel Junior School (Year 4)

'Thanks so much for giving your time and energy to providing a brilliant experience for the children and young people. It makes such a difference to their time in the hospital to be able to offer them something different and exciting.'

- Great Ormond Street Hospital School

Teacher Checklist

Risk Assessments
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Where we travel to

We can visit your school in:

What activities are available during this school workshop?

Sample found sounds to make music.
Learn how sounds are created, how they travel, and where they end up.
What the difference is between pitch and amplitude.
How sound is used in the animal kingdom.
Play on a theremin, create stunning Chladni patterns in sand using vibration,use a telegraph key to send Morse Code messages, experiment with tuning forks, perform Foley sounds to a film, use fruits and vegetables to trigger musical sounds and more!

Which curriculum topics do we cater for?

Music Workshop

Playing Musical Instruments Listening to Music Composing Music Music History Musical Notation

The workshops can help start or end a topic relating to sound and music. Our cross-curricular activities will help pupils to see links between subjects. For example, when learning about the lithophone, a musical instrument made from rocks, we may also cover how it makes a sound, vibration, resonance, hearing, other percussion instruments and their similarities or differences.

Curriculum Aims:
- Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds.
- Play tuned and untuned instruments musically.
- Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music.
- Improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music.
- Listen with attention to detail.
- Use and understand other musical notations (graphic scores).

Physics Workshop

Sound Sound waves (KS3/4) Energy and waves (KS3/4)

The workshops can help start or end a topic relating to sound and music. Our cross-curricular activities will help pupils to see links between subjects. For example, medical stethoscopes would also cover vibration, hearing and how the ear works, what sounds can tell us about our health etc. and why a mechanic might also use a similar object to repair car engines.

Curriculum Aims:
- Identify how sounds are made, associating some of them with something vibrating.
- Recognise that vibrations from sounds travel through a medium to the ear.
- Find patterns between the pitch of a sound and features of the object that produced it.
- Find patterns between the volume of a sound and the strength of the vibrations that produced it.
- Recognise that sounds get fainter as the distance from the sound source increases.
- Frequencies of sound waves, measured in hertz (Hz); echoes, reflection and absorption of sound.
- Sound needs a medium to travel, the speed of sound in air, in water, in solids.
- Sound produced by vibrations of objects, in loudspeakers, detected by their effects on microphone diaphragm and the eardrum; sound waves are longitudinal.
- The auditory range of humans and animals.

What size groups do we cater for?

Up to one class at a time. The workshops can last 1hour, 1.5hrs, 2hrs or a whole day depending on how many the school would like repeating throughout the day.
We also can run a 30-minute assembly on the A-Z of sound.

Access for visitors with disabilities

Yes. Please let us know more about your group and we will get back to you with more details about the suitability of what we offer.

Visitors with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Our workshops can be adapted to accommodate a wide range of needs. Please get in touch to discuss how we might be able to support your learners with our science of sound and music activities.

Anything else?

Did you know that the gurgling noise your stomach makes is called borborygmus? It is the Greek word meaning to rumble.

We also offer online as well as in-school workshops.

Who are School Of Noise?

The School of Noise run in-school and virtual workshops for children and young people investigating the science of sound. Since forming in 2015 we have visited schools, art centres, museums, and festivals around the world providing an exciting opportunity to discover more about sound. From observing beautiful Chladni patterns in sand to measuring the speed of sound, workshops offer a wide range of activities to accompany any sound topic.