At Heron Hill we believe in the power of music as an essential building-block of pupils’ education. Music-making is important and fun for its own sake, but has also been consistently proven in research to promote social cohesion, teamwork, empathy and inclusion, as well as support children’s language and academic skills.

We are a singing school - songs permeate the curriculum, as we sing about everything from tidying up or food waste, to Maths, Grammar, Geography or Science! And we hold a special place in our school for our singing link with our partner school in Kenya.

We have an excellent and renowned school choir which is open to pupils in Years 3-6, giving them the chance to perform on a regular basis both within and beyond school.

Pupils access a music curriculum throughout their time at Heron Hill which gives them the opportunity not only to sing, but also to listen to a wide range of music, compose, learn an instrument, and perform. All children learn the basics of reading and writing music, beginning with simple graphic scores in Reception, to using IT in Key Stage 2 to help them record simple melodies.  Learning to play the xylophone or glockenspiel supports this process, with the addition of electronic keyboards in Years 5 & 6.

All pupils also learn to play the ukulele, an instrument that is fun and accessible to all.  Beginning in Year 2, we aim to fluently play a 3-chord song by the end of Year 6.

The curriculum is further extended by drumming circles, rhythm work using a wide range of unpitched percussion instruments, class compositions describing stories or aspects of the wider curriculum, and the use of IT to develop pupils’ own compositions.

Pupils listen to a wide range of music from the key periods of Western music history, as well as selections from different cultures and countries, learning to compare and contrast styles of music from various times and places. Each year, visiting musicians come into school to enrich the curriculum through their engaging performances.

In addition to our Music curriculum, we are proud to offer an excellent range of peripatetic music lessons in school time: piano, guitar, violin, trumpet, cornet, trombone, flute, clarinet and saxophone.

Children also take part in year group musical productions throughout their school career.