The Vision for Music at St Catherine's 

At St Catherine's, through the Music curriculum, we inspire children to exercise their imagination and creativity whilst learning and growing.  Children appreciate and enjoy the diversity of music working collaboratively, taking risks and reflecting from experiences of failure as well as success to believe in themselves and reach their potential. 

Our scheme of work includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places. These are explored through the language of music via active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre. Each year group has a playlist of tracks exploring a range of repertoire, from Medieval times through to Twentieth Century pop, as well as traditional and classical forms from across the globe.

Our curriculum provides a class-based, participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole-body actions, and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others' music. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.

Our Music curriculum builds experience and develops understanding of the interrelated dimensions (elements) of music throughout the scheme (eg tempo, dynamics, rhythm, beat). Each unit has as its focus one process such as performance or composition, or one dimension, such as pitch, but the learning progresses within the context of all the inter-related processes and dimensions of music. A wide variety of notations, including picture, graphic, rhythm and staff notation are integrated, wherever appropriate, with practical music-making activities throughout the scheme. Notations are used progressively to promote understanding and use of the representation of sound in symbols by all children.

From Year 5 all children are taught to play the Ukulele through weekly lessons with a specialist teacher.

In the Autumn Term 2024, Hertfordshire Music Service nominated St Catherine's to be awarded the Music Mark, which is given in recognition of our commitment to provide a high quality of Music education for all. 

Extra Curricular Music

Instrumental Tuition  Through our partnership with Hertfordshire Music Service (HMS), we offer individual or small group instrumental lessons in piano, guitar, clarinet and violin.  HMS are also able to hire instruments for children to use in lessons and to practice with at home.  Further information on lessons, including prices and availability can be found here.  HMS have generous subsidies available which could reduce the cost by 50% or even make them free, for families where parents/carers are in receipt of certain benefits.  Find out more here.

Choir  We have two thriving choirs, one for children in Y1/2/3 and another for Y4/5/6.  All children are welcome to join, and we only ask that children attend our weekly rehearsals and are enthusiastic and committed. Recently, our choirs have had the opportunity to perform in Ware and Hertford in the Hertford and Ware Music Festival, along with the Young Voices concert at the 02.