Barbara Blows, A Priory Farm Parent 2009
2012 Applications
adelaide@ashtreemusic.com
To find out more before you apply, please scroll down the page for details about the camp, and about course fees including information about family discounts and bursaries. The PFMC-Staff page on this website offers further info about staff members who teach on the course, and contains photographs of previous years of PFMC. If you can't find the answer to your questions here, please feel free to email Adelaide at the above address for more information. She will be happy to hear from you!
NEXT SUMMER'S DATES:
19-24 August 2012
Priory Farm Music Camp is now in its 7th year. We are proud of the way PFMC has continued to be as inclusive as possible while staying uniquely small.
Musicians aged 8-12 are welcome to apply for a place on this residential camp. Our small size - (only 25 places available!) and friendly setting enable us to encourage musical development in each child, through orchestral and ensemble playing with the help of specialist instrumental coaching.
Set in the beautiful green hills and red earth of North Oxfordshire, children camp in tents, and spend their time outdoors and playing music with new friends. It is the perfect setting for children to grow in confidence: not just musically, but socially, and, with swimming pool, tennis court and acres of green fields at their fingertips, it is a fantastic summer adventure!
Who is it for and how does it work?
We offer specialist tuition in strings, brass & percussion, however all instrumentalists are welcome. Children aged 8-12, who will have been learning their instrument for at least 3 terms before the camp takes place, are welcome to apply. We are limited as to the number of piano players, so as a result we are interested in applications from pianists of roughly Grade 4 or higher. At PFMC, all children will play in the PFMC orchestra, and also in one of several small chamber or jazz groups. The music for these will be arranged and scored in advance, taking into account the standard and needs of each individual child.
PFMC is bursting with interactive musical education and appreciation. Children learn old and new songs and rounds; they play body-percussion games and discover different kinds of music; and each year there are added extras such as song-writing, drumming, and even scottish dancing. All the kids participate in the PFMC choir each day and with musical activities in the evenings such as their own chance to organise and take part in the PFMC Talent Show, there are plenty of musical and social opportunities and experiences packed into the week.
And finally, there is the END OF CAMP CONCERT, for all the parents to enjoy.
Rehearsing for the end of camp concert
A Typical Day
8am Breakfast
9am Shake up and Sing
9.30am Chamber & Jazz
10.30am Break-time
11.15am Orchestra
12.30pm Lunch
Free Play & Swimming!
3.15pm Tea
3.45pm Rhythm and Rhyme (Workshops)
4.15pm Choir
5pm Chamber & Jazz
6pm Supper
7pm Games, Cocoa & Story-telling
8pm Teeth, pyjamas & tent-time
Is Music All We Do?
Not at all! Lunch is followed each day by 2 hours of free play. Children can swim (supervised!) and play tennis, plus there is garden rugby, frisbee, football and rounders too all of which are spontaneously organised and non-compulsory! A woodland picnic, a camp-fire and a barbecue party are three other highlights of the week. If it rains we have plenty of fun and creative indoor activities to do, like table-tennis, story-reading, arts and crafts, and loads of games.  Tractor Ride
 Rhythm Section in the 2009 Concert
| Pastoral Care
Priory Farm is safely nestled in a small, North Oxfordshire village.
Children all share tents, and staff - on pastoral duty 24 hours a day - camp alongside. If we are un-blessed with really terrible weather, we will bring everyone into the house to sleep inside. All activities are supervised by the staff, and we are proud of our incredibly high staff:child ratio of 1:4. This enables us all to become a friendly team of people, staff and children, all working together. It also means that staff are easily able to spot and deal with any problems straight away. To find out more about the staff - to see photos and read about them, please click here.  Learning the Dashing White Sargent in the garden.
|
Food!
Rita, Katie and Emma make up our professional, friendly and experienced catering team, providing healthy and balanced food to suit busy, outdoors children: warming breakfasts, sustaining lunches and yummy suppers along with cakes and biscuits daily.
Course Fee
Fees for 2012: £325
The fee covers everything: good food, 24-hour care, expert tuition, full use of safe and beautiful surroundings, inspirational musical experiences and lots of active fun over 6 days.
To apply for a place on PFMC, you need to download an application form. Please click on the 'download file' link below this paragraph, and print out one form per child. This form should be filled in as comprehensively as possible. The more information you put on the form, the better chance your child has of securing a place. The form should then be sent by post with a £100 deposit to the address on the form. You can pay electronically or make cheques payable to Ash Tree Music. We will send you an email confirming that we have received your application. There is no further payment required until your child's place on the course has been confirmed. We will tell you this as soon as possible. If your child is not allocated a place, your deposit will be safely returned to you. The balance can be paid in full or in installments.
If siblings wish to come, you are entitled to apply for a family discount of £30. Please fill out one form per child, and send both forms in together with a deposit of £150.
We have a small number of bursaries available. If you are worried about the cost, please email adelaide@ashtreemusic.com and ask for a bursary application form.
Early applications will have more chance of success so apply soon to avoid disappointment
For an Application Form, please email Adelaide:
adelaide@ashtreemusic.com
What Past Priory Farmers (and their parents) said about Music Camp 2011
Hanchen Bertrand, London
"I just wanted to say thank you again to all of you, including your lovely parents, for such a wonderful week of music and fun. Look forward to seeing you next year."
Kay Joss, Kent
"Thank you so much for organising such a FABULOUS Priory Farm music camp.
You and your team are amazing! Oliver can’t stop talking about all he did, the music he played, the rhythms and songs he learnt and all the fun he had. He absolutely loved his time with you! Please could you also pass on our great thanks to the rest of your team and your parents for making the camp such a success."
Sarah Anderson, London
"I just wanted to say thank you formally to you, your parents, all the leaders & various helpers who made this week so enjoyable and rewarding. You are clearly blessed to have such a beautiful and ideal location to hold the camp, where the children are happy and safe. It was also evident today that each and every one involved in the camp has worked very hard to ensure it was a stimulating week, culminating in today's excellent concert. We thoroughly enjoyed it! Katie is absolutely exhausted tonight but she loved the week and can't wait for next year!"
Vickie Worrall, Brackley
And about 2010
"We just wanted to thank you so much for inviting Cordelia to participate in Priory Farm Music Camp. She had an absolutely wonderful time both in terms of the musical experience as well as the extra mural events. She came back incredibly enthusiastic about the whole experience and is very keen to participate again next year."
...and about 2009...
"I especially really enjoyed learning all that good jazz from Olly - it was fun seeing how it all works. I also think my frisbee skills have also come along a lot with our mega sessions."
"Thank you once again for all that each of you do every year to make this a special experience, and for all that you instill with such love and care in these children."
....and about 2008
"Thank you very much for such a lovely week at Priory Farm. I had a great time."
"Thank you all for all your efforts for our children - they are extremely lucky to have such talented and lovely group of people to learn from."
"They LOVED their week with you. They have spent hours recounting the stories, events and special moments, not to mention the songs! Your care for our children as well as the huge enthusiasm and sense of fun in a creative atmosphere has been a great gift to them."
"Thank you all so much for making last week really good fun. I really really enjoyed the Frisbee, and the tractor drives and tree swinging. Please thank Rita for all the delicious food she cooked. I hope I can come back next year!"
...and about 2007
"My daughter has so many lovely recollections of the happy time she spent with you"
"Thankyou for all your help. I'm really excited about next year"
"Thank You for all the Yummy foods. They were very nice"
"Thankyou for all your hard work and enthusiasm...I'm so glad the children came and we have discovered a beautiful part of the country"
"A fantastic music course...They have been really inspired by the creative and musical activities and I know this will have helped them enormously with their own playing"
"You provided them with a stimulating and fun environment, but most importantly a caring and safe one... A triumph!"
To read about our Priory Farm Staff and to see more photos click on the 'PFMC Staff' tab above left