At St John Vianney’s, we are passionate about and proud of our music curriculum. Our aims are to enhance our children’s personal, social, cultural and spiritual development through a wide range of opportunities which form part of the music curriculum.

Music at St John Vianney’s brings us together as both a school and parish community and allows our children to develop and showcase their own personal expression. Our music curriculum encourages self-expression, discipline and emotional development. Our desire at St John Vianney’s is to ensure each and every child develops an enjoyment and understanding of Music which they can continue to develop, both throughout the rest of their education, and into their adult lives.

Within our music curriculum a range of key concepts are covered including: learning and understanding musical elements and vocabulary which progresses across each phase; performing using a range of mediums and the opportunity to listen to and respond to performances across a range of musical periods and genres; improvising and composing music which allows children to create their own music, both individually and in groups. At St John Vianney’s music is celebrated and appreciated, both in the classroom, and in our wider learning.

The breadth and depth of our music curriculum is shown by how each year group follows the ‘Charanga’ scheme of work. This helps our teachers to plan and deliver quality music curriculum lessons as well as assess their children against the national curriculum objectives.

Each year, children’s musical skills are developed, revisited and embedded.

Furthermore, every year children from Year 4 have the opportunity to learn the Cornet as part of our partnership with Blackpool Music services’ Wider Opportunities programme. Both Year 4 classes receive weekly tuition in the instrument over the course of the year and have the chance to perform in a concert to showcase their learning to the rest of the school and their families.

Pupils’ understanding of music around the world is enhanced each year when we work with two South African musicians who help our Year 5 children to learn traditional African singing, dancing and drumming. The children also share their learning in a performance to the rest of the school and their families.

Equally, music, especially singing, plays an important role in our different Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter services as well as our Year 6 end of year production. At St John Vianney’s we are proud to boast an enthusiastic and dedicated choir in KS2. Children rehearse weekly and have performed in a range of concerts and competitions in our local area. Each Christmas, the choir engage with our local community by singing Christmas carols for our Parish Christmas dinner and at nearby nursing and care homes.

The music curriculum at St John Vianney’s has a tremendous impact on the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of our children. Visibly, many of our children are uplifted and enthused in their music learning and performances, developing their self-confidence and joy for the subject.