At St John's, we value music as a unique and powerful form of communication that can enrich children’s lives.

We believe that music has the power to improve mental health and wellbeing, whilst supporting academic achievement in the core subjects.

We encourage our children to participate in a range of musical experiences both within the classroom and collectively as a school.

Our aim is to provide a high quality music education that inspires pupils to develop a love of music, whilst increasing their self-confidence, creativity and sense of community. 

Our Music curriculum is centred around three strands of Music:

• Listening & Appraising 
• Performing 
• Composing 

Through our Listening & Appraising curriculum, children develop an understanding of Music history through in-depth studies of the genres: 

• Theatre Music
• Music to Dance to
• Pop Music

Vocabulary linked to the inter-related dimensions of music is introduced and built upon each year, as children are encouraged to describe what they are hearing by using key musical vocabulary (e.g. pitch, dynamics, tempo, texture, timbre).

Performing: singing & playing

Singing is an important part of the  musical culture at St John's. We take part in weekly singing assemblies where the focus is on singing for pleasure as well as improving technique. 

In the classroom, children are taught to perform using their voices and a range of instruments, including unpitched percussion and glockenspiels, following the Charanga scheme of work.

In Key Stage Two, children are given the opportunity to learn an instrument with specialist teachers from Rock Steady. 

Children are taught to improvise and compose their own pieces of music, both in groups and individually, through their regular Music lessons. 

In addition to classroom Music lessons, children are offered opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities. Our school choir have enjoyed performing at a Twilight Trail at Forbury Gardens as part of a multi- schools project.