‘Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.’ Plato

Intent

At St Catherine’s we believe in giving all children rich, creative and broad musical experiences, in order to foster a love for music. Through music, we hope to inspire, challenge and encourage our children to see and fulfil their musical potential.

Singing

All children experience singing through their year group’s curriculum, as well as taking part in weekly singing assemblies. We also have a KS2 choir which has represented the school at concerts for Arundel Choral Society for many years, at Chichester Cathedral and in our local community. Every year we enjoy singing Christmas carols for residents at local care homes as well as in church as part of the Rotary service. Through our performances, we have always been complimented on our musicality and enthusiasm, something we are very proud of.

This year, teachers have been working closely with the Music department from St Oscar Romero Catholic School to develop our practice.

Instruments

At St Catherine’s, we are lucky enough to have many musical teachers who share their enthusiasm and knowledge, allowing us to give pupils the opportunity to learn a range of musical instruments. In the summer term this year, we hope to put on a whole school music concert, where every class will perform and showcase their musical talents playing and singing as a whole school!

Wider Music Curriculum

Our school believes that music is not only an important part of the curriculum for learning about the history of music, how to sing, play, listen and appraise but also for all the other valuable lessons it brings, such as creativity, self-confidence, an expressive outlet, working together, discipline, interacting and being aware of each other and self-reflection.

Events

In the Summer term we hold a music day, where children take part in musical activities, including samba, djembe drumming and singing workshops.

During the Summer term of 2021, the school took part in 'World Sing Up Day', with the children learning a song (with accompanying actions) in their bubbles and then coming together on the school field to sing together for the first time since the pandemic began. It brought much joy to the children and staff who all sang enthusiastically as well as musically!