Notes from School
A weekly assembly with James B Partridge (or Mr Partridge to the naughty Year 6s on the back benches!) where we take a deep dive into the songs and stories from your school days.
Each week, the assembly will start with a catch-up session, a Q&A with listener questions (anything goes!) and we will of course finish with a group singalong and deep dive into your favourite songs from school. Make sure you're sat up straight and get ready to sing every Wednesday with Notes from School with James B Partridge.
~~~
Follow me on socials at:
Instagram: http://instagram.com/jamesbpartridge
TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@jamesbpartridge
Email me: notesfromschoolpodcast@gmail.com
YouTube: http://youtube.com/jamesbpartridge
~~~
I am on tour all year, across the UK and you can book your tickets at: https://jamesbpartridge.com/
Episodes
27 episodes
Ep 26: The Endless Harmony of The King's Singers with Chris Bruerton and Julian Gregory
The school term has ended and in fitting fashion, this will be the final episode of this season of Notes from School. I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined by two members of the legendary vocal group The King’s Singers. I have loved listening to...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 26
•
1:04:52
Ep 25: Help Me! I’m a Teacher at the End of Term with Mr Firth
Fingers on lips! The digital school assembly of Notes from School this week invites in the internet’s favourite Year 2 teacher and creator of the podcast Help Me! I’m a Teacher!: the brilliant Mr Firth.On a very hot s...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 25
•
53:23
Ep 24: Redefining the Recorder with Sarah Jeffery (Team Recorder)
In this episode of Notes from School, I meet the fantastic Sarah Jeffery. She is a professional recorder player, professor at Royal College of Music and the creator behind the wildly popular YouTube channel Team Recorder. From when I started th...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 24
•
46:42
Ep 23: Post-Glasto catch-up with Dan Partridge
After a week’s recovery, Notes from School is back with the return of Dan Partridge to catch up on the madness of the Glastonbury experience! If you’re missing the festival then hopefully you’ll enjoy this catch-up. If you’re sick of hearing ab...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 23
•
37:26
Ep 22: Glastonbury hype and chat with Dan Partridge
This week I have invited my brother, and musical theatre star, Dan Partridge onto the Notes from School podcast. We chat about everything Glastonbury Festival, from our favourite acts and areas to the experience of performing there in 2024. I t...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 22
•
40:00
Ep 21: The Disturbing History of Nursery Rhymes
What do "Ring a Ring o’ Roses" and "Three Blind Mice" have in common? They're MUCH darker than you remember. In this episode of Notes from School, I take a look at the surprising (and occasionally horrifying) history behind classic nursery rhym...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 21
•
40:18
Ep 20: Mega Song Request and Q&A special!
We’ve hit the 20th episode milestone! To celebrate, this week is a bumper crop of song requests, as well as a short Q&A section. If you have any song requests for future episodes or suggestions for topics to cover then feel free to comment ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 20
•
32:45
Ep 19: Tolkien’s Forgotten Song Cycle, “The Road Goes Ever On”.
What do Hobbits hum and Elves sing? Join me for this week’s assembly as Tolkien’s poetry meets Donald Swann’s piano in a musical walk through Middle-Earth. In this week’s episode of Notes from School, I explore “The Road Goes Ever ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 19
•
37:54
Ep 18: I Vow to Thee, My Country
Following on from last week’s episode, today’s assembly is focussed on the classic tune: I Vow to Thee, My Country. I’ll be exploring the history and tension behind one of Britain’s most emotional hymns. If you have enjoyed t...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 18
•
44:26
Ep 17: Jerusalem, England’s Most Iconic but Controversial Hymn
Jerusalem. It has been one of the most recognisable and iconic English tunes of the past 100 years. But is it as universally loved as we remember and can it even be called a hymn? How has a story about Jesus taking a road trip to Glastonbury le...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 17
•
40:01
Ep 16: Playing through the entire Apusskidu songbook!
After a few weeks of some great interviews, I thought I would take it back to the assembly hall with a mega episode of singalongs. This week I go through the entire Apusskidu songbook from 1975 which is packed full of tunes for children to sing...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 16
•
39:43
Ep 15: UK meets USA. Make Weird Music with Anthony Garone
Over the past couple of weeks in April I’ve been in the States on holiday. Clearly, I’m not very good at fully relaxing so I teamed up with Anthony Garone from the YouTube channel Make Weird Music for a great conversation. We discuss topics suc...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 15
•
1:06:01
Ep 14: The Great British songbook with Tom Carradine
To celebrate St. George’s Day today, I have Tom Carradine in the assembly hall. He is the mastermind behind the Cockney singalong and has a deep and immersive knowledge of British song from the Victorian music hall to war-time tunes and even ob...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 14
•
1:15:05
Ep 13: Football, choirs and Bantam of the Opera with James Sills
This week we invite James Sills into the assembly hall for a great conversation. We chat about the links between football and singing which have combined in his awesome new project called Bantam of the Opera for BBC Sounds. This is a project br...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 13
•
59:36
Ep 12: My Top 10 Easter Bangers!
It’s the Easter holidays! Or it nearly is, depending on what school you’re at. That means it is time to decide on the best ever Easter singalongs, whether we look at some traditional classic hymns or some newer school assembly tunes. Thanks to ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 12
•
34:08
Ep 11: Why live music for children is so important with Polly Ives
Why is it so important to introduce children to music from an early age? This week I had a slightly different performing experience to usual as my Sunday morning was spent doing my show with a twist: the audience were mostly under the age of 5!...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 11
•
32:55
Ep 10: The genius of the Toys R Us advert theme
The questions were thrown open this week on my socials. I had some great obscure song requests come in alongside a prompt to explore the best British advert jingles. I even get some AI opinions on this before I do a deeply educational analysis ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 10
•
45:48
Ep 09: Graham Kendrick on Shine Jesus Shine and the legacy of his songwriting
It was an absolute delight to spend nearly an hour talking to Graham Kendrick about his songwriting craft, the connection of worship music and of course the ultimate school assembly banger: Shine Jesus Shine! In the timestamps below you can see...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 9
•
56:54
Ep 08: Ask an opera singer anything! Q&A with Welsh soprano Eleri Gwilym
Can you really smash glass with singing?! How do you even find out you can sing opera? Find out the stories behind becoming an opera singer, the state of singing in Wales and much more with today’s chat with Eleri Gwilym. She is currently playi...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 8
•
37:39
Ep 07: All Things Bright and Beautiful
Cecil Frances Alexander cracked out some absolute belters in her time. Today’s episode dives into one of her most iconic hymns. It’s one that we all know and love: All Things Bright and Beautiful. I look at all the different versions of the mel...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 7
•
28:59
Ep 06: A soundtrack for success with Ella Writer plus I Can Sing a Rainbow
Following on from last week’s great chat about youth singing and self-confidence, today we now look at how music can help build self-confidence with professional and personal success. In the assembly hall today we are joined by Ella Writer, CEO...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 6
•
45:47
Ep 05: Self-confidence through song with Rachel Staunton
How can singing in a choir from a young age boost your self confidence? In this week’s assembly we have a special guest! Rachel Staunton is the co-founder and artistic director of London Youth Choir and she joins me on the podcast this week to ...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 5
•
36:33
Ep 04: What are the top 20 UK wedding hymns?
It might be February but this week’s assembly is taking us to wedding season. After a big response of answers online, I have put together the Top 20 of hymns sung at weddings in the UK. Some of the tunes might be surprising, some of them absolu...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 4
•
43:09
Ep 03: Rebellious Scottish songs...from Bonnie Shores to School Floors
Welcome back to the school hall for a trip back in time to 18th Century Scotland. This week’s assembly takes a historical twist as I dive into some classic Scottish folk tunes that would have been sung in schools across the UK. Discover the lin...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 3
•
37:17
Ep 02: Give Me Oil…and a Stretch Armstrong?!
Welcome back to the school hall for this week’s assembly! Settle down and let’s have fingers on lips while I catch you up on my first gigs of the year, playing at a tech conference and going to the press night of the amazing Kinky Boots featuri...
•
Season 1
•
Episode 2
•
39:07