What with the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and the 100th anniversary of Holst’s ‘The Planets’, the BBC have been encouraging schools to really think about Space. The one planet that Holst did not write about was Earth, so the BBC challenged pupils from schools across the country, to compose their own piece of music about the Earth in a project called ‘Ten Pieces Earth Mission’.

Mrs Bennett and Otters Class, set about creating their own musical composition based on planet Earth. Children split into groups and worked together, using the technique of 'layering sounds' with various percussion instruments. The piece gives us a 'whistle-stop' journey , starting in London with the Westminster Chimes, moving over to Africa, then to Asia, up to the Arctic, down to Caribbean over to South America and then ending in the rainforest before finishing back in London; the whole piece was 'held together' by the repeating motif of drums. Our final piece was filmed and sent into the BBC for a chance to have it played on BBC Radio 3 on Earth Day, and also featured on the BBC Ten Pieces website. 

Just a few days ago, Mrs Bennett received the wonderful news that Otters Class had won! The BBC wrote: 'Congratulations! We particularly loved the influences from around the globe and the steady repeating drumbeat tying it all together....'

Now you can view their award-winning entry by following this link onto the BBC website. Well done Otters!

https://www.bbc.com/teach/ten-pieces/you-took-on-our-earth-mission/zfcy7nb