The Southwater Junior AcademyMusic
Our curriculum subject areas of the website are currently being revised and updated. However, please see below for a flavour of what we do.
Click here for the Horsham Music Festival 2022 Tracks
Here at Southwater Junior Academy, the children are very enthusiastic about their music lessons, learning to play musical instruments, singing sessions and performances. The children are very lucky to be taught in a purpose built Music Studio and to be taught by specialist music teachers and a very talented and dedicated group of peripatetic teachers. Pupils achieve outstanding results in music at Southwater in both their class curriculum challenges and performances.
Class Music Lessons
Music Lessons in the Studio develop the skills, understanding and abilities of all pupils from the time they enter the school until they leave in Year 6.
The children, whatever their ability, thoroughly enjoy the hands on challenges and have fun whilst they are learning!
Learning the Ukulele
Children at Southwater Junior Academy learn the ukulele throughout their time with us with their music teacher Mrs Kerney-Haynes. We have a class set of ukuleles to enable this to happen. They have a concentrated two terms learning in Year 3 and this is reinforced and extended each term for 1 or 2 lessons in Year 4, 5 and 6 to increase their fluency and confidence.
By the time the children leave Southwater at the end of Year 6, they have had access to learning how to read and play from standard music notation, have risen to many a hands-on practical challenge and are composing and rehearsing their own group song compositions which they perform in a mini ‘Battle of the Bands’ celebration.
Following on from the ‘ukulele challenge’ in Year 3, pupils are offered the opportunity to learn to play an instrument of their own choice – and there are plenty to choose from…
Music Clubs
When the children learning instruments reach a required standard, they are invited to join one of the academy’s instrumental music clubs – drumming, keyboard, guitar or woodwind. From here they are further challenged through being invited to join one of the West Sussex Music Service bands, groups or orchestras.
Did you know?
This year, Southwater Junior Academy has 175 children learning to play an instrument in school, out of the 307 pupils in Years 4,5 and 6, and further pupils are learning to play instruments privately outside school. That’s a fantastic result - with over half our pupils having the opportunity to enhance their musical skills through playing an instrument of their own choice.
Lower Junior Harvest, Upper Junior Christmas, Lower Junior Christmas, Lower Junior Choir singing at The Christmas Fayre, the Candlelit Carol Service in Lintot Square, The Horsham Schools’ Music Festival at the Hawth, Yr 6 performed in The Bandstand in Horsham, The Year 6 pupils 'wow' everyone with their sell-out performances in the Capitol, and also their final performance at their Leavers’ Service.
- Guitar
- Keyboard
- Orchestral strings – violin, cello
- Brass – trumpet, cornet, trombone, French horn, euphonium, baratone, tuba
- Woodwind – flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon
Please visit the Learning an Instrument at SJA page to find details for all of our amazing peripatetic teachers!
For those children who love to sing, there are various choirs throughout the year
Autumn Term - Lower Junior Choir & Yr 6 O2 Choir
Spring Term – Yr 5 Music Festival Choir
Summer Term - Yr 6 Production Singing Focus.
We are very proud as a school to have been recognised for the quality of our singing and performances – and to have been nominated for, and awarded the prestigious National ‘Platinum Sing Up Award.’ We were the 69th school in the country to have been awarded ‘Platinum’ status, which put us in the top 0.3% of schools in the country. A fantastic achievement!
