Music

Music is a quintessential element of our bilingual education ethos as singing in French is part of our daily routines and seasonal celebrations from Reception onwards. We are currently developing musicianship at St. Jérôme by including some of the ideas of Zoltán Kodály, a Hungarian composer and educator who said:

“Let us take our children seriously! Everything follows from this…. only the best is good enough for a child!’”

Kodály believed in developing the inner ear through singing exercises that follow hand signals for each note of the scale and repeating rhythmic patterns with sounds. This links very well with our approach to language acquisition and as stated in the National Curriculum, we agree that ”Music is a universal language.”

At St. Jérôme we are proud to have been recognised by Music Mark, following our nomination from Harrow Music Service in 2021 in recognition of a commitment to providing a high-quality music education for all children.

Music Mark is the UK Association for Music Education; they champion and support access to music for all children and young people.

“Music Mark works to enable our members, and the wider music education sector, to deliver high-quality musical and social outcomes for all children and young people. We would like to thank you for all the hard work your school does to support our collective vision.” – Music Mark

How we teach Music at Saint Jérôme

In EYFS and KS1 we use the Stave House method. This method teaches children to read, play and write music. It uses a series of creative characters to engage children, through storytelling and songs. Children embark on a wonderful imaginary journey into the world of Stave House where they will be equipped with classical music skills for life, teaching them to read, write and play music. Stave House lays a musical foundation that is taught via a ‘see, hear, do ‘interactive approach to learning.

At St. Jérôme the KS2 classes follow the award winning Charanga Model Music to enable us to deliver the National Curriculum for Music. All children are given the opportunity to learn to play the recorder.

Please see the Music Curriculum Map which shows what we are working on each term and how we use our skills learnt in the classroom to perform at school events.  

Instrumental Tuition

We are very pleased that all children in Year 3 are given the opportunity to learn African drumming for one term, with lessons provided by Harrow Music Service.

In addition to this, all KS2 children are invited to receive 1:1/small group instrumental tuition until they leave St. Jérôme in Y6. We are delighted that we currently have 130 children learning an instrument in school with others learning outside of school. We estimate that over 70% of KS2 children now play an instrument.

Tuesday: Guitar and Drums
Wednesday: Piano and Violin
Thursday: Keyboard, piano, violin and woodwind
Friday: Violin, cello and trumpet
Parents can find useful information and resources regarding instrumental ensembles on Harrow Music Services website https://www.harrowmusic.org/

Clubs and Extracurricular Opportunities

Over the last year, we have set up a large number of clubs to reflect our commitment to the Creative Arts, taking place before, during and after the school day.

  • KS2 Orchestra
  • KS2 Recorder Ensemble
  • KS2 Choir
  • KS1 Choir
  • KS1 Stave House Club

Music Events

All children take part in regular singing both in the classroom and as part of worship. The standard of singing in school is high which has enabled instrumental tuition to progress quickly despite the interruption caused by Covid. Over the last year we have been delighted to take part in many live events for the first time for St. Jérôme as well as returning to our established performances for parents.

  • Harvest and Christmas services led by the choir and orchestra
  • School Nativity performances
  • Regular performances by KS2 musicians in assembly
  • KS2 Spring Concert featuring all our ensembles and choirs
  • Borough festivals such as Bandfest, Recorderfest, Songfest and Stringfest for our instrumentalists and all of Y5 to participate in conjunction with Harrow Music Service
  • KS1 Sing, sing, sing
  • KS2 Piano Recital
  • Harrow School’s production of Noye’s Fludde which included 18 members of Y5 performing in their Speech Room
  • Harrow School’s Town Carols service
  • Singing a service at St Paul’s Cathedral
  • Sining at Christchurch Cathedral, Oxford
  • Singing at King’s College Chapel, Cambridge University
  • French Institute Pop Video Song Competition – won for the 3rd time in the 7 to 11 year old category: here are the links STJ National 2021 Winner 7-11,  STJ National 2022 Winner 7-11 and STJ National 2024 Winner 7-11.