At St James’ we engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music. We believe that music is a unique and powerful form of communication that can affect a pupil’s mood and the way that they feel, think and act. Music has many benefits; it can increase listening and concentration skills, self-esteem, confidence, creativity and memory.

Music is an important part of school life at St James’. The pupil’s sing during whole school and class assemblies, we have a great relationship with the Lancashire music service and our brass teacher James Hall and we hold musical performances throughout the year which are delivered by both the pupils in school and external agencies. We even have our own choir who have performed at the last choir singing competition.

As part of the music curriculum, each KS1 and KS2 child has the opportunity to listen to, appraise, create and perform music, including playing instruments. 

Music is also incorporated into the Early Learning goals at the Early Years Foundation Stage and is firmly embedded in our Early Years provision. Music is part of the Expressive Arts and Design area of learning, but is also used to support all areas of learning, particularly linguistic development, social development and mathematical development.

In line with the National Curriculum, Key stage 1 children are taught to:

•  use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes

• play tuned and untuned instruments musically

• listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music

• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Key stage 2 children are taught to:

• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression

•  improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music

• listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

• use and understand staff and other musical notations

•  appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians

•  develop an understanding of the history of music

‘Without music, life would be a mistake’ Friedrich Nietzsche

“How is it that music can, without words, evoke our laughter, our fears, our highest aspirations?” ― Jane Swan

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” ― Bob Marley.

“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t.” ― Johnny Depp

“If you cannot teach me to fly, teach me to sing.” ― J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan