Music and the performing arts is an engaging and well-rounded program at Boronia Heights Primary School. Our diverse and exciting program aims to develop a love of music within the students, fostering their interests and talents, whether it be singing, playing an instrument, dancing or acting. Students attend a music lesson each week with Mr. Fox. These lessons draw upon different music teaching philosophies including Orff Schulwerk and Kodaly. The focus is on developing their knowledge and skills around basic music concepts, such as beat, rhythm and pitch, as well as activities to foster vocal and instrumental skills. Our end of term ‘Happy Hour’ concerts provide a showcase for what students have been learning in music classes and the whole school community turns out for our annual Christmas Carol concert in December.
Two of the highest profile groups in the program are our senior choir and band. Our school choir is made up of nearly 40 students from Years 4-6. They attend weekly rehearsals and participate in numerous performances throughout the year, including school assemblies, fetes, open nights and community events such as Christmas concerts. We also have a junior choir for students in Years 1-3, who rehearse once a week.
Our school band consists of around 25 students from Years 2-6 and includes instruments such as flute, violin, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, drums, keyboard and tuned percussion (xylophones and glockenspiels). They play our national anthem and the school song each week at assemblies and will entertain local kindergartens later in the year to help promote our program to future students.
A highlight of our program is our bi-annual school production. We have performed the musical Robin and the Sherwood Hoodies (2019) and ‘Aladdin Trouble’ (2017) just to name a few. The performances feature our Year 5 & 6 students in a variety of acting, singing and dancing roles, with additional songs from our Prep-4 students. The shows run for two nights.
Our instrumental program is run by a group of dedicated teachers who come into our school to work with interested students each week. We currently offer woodwind (flute, clarinet, saxophone and fife), guitar, ukulele, keyboard, violin, drums and singing lessons. Our program is very popular with around 1 in 5 students currently attending lessons. Selected students will also perform at our instrumental showcase concerts, in May and November.
Production
The school puts on a School Production every second year. Children in grades 5 & 6 can participate on stage as a lead character, a member of chorus or a dancer. Alternatively, they may choose to be in the Production Band or take on a backstage role. Past productions have included ‘Mr Scrooge’, ‘Calamity James’, ‘The Cat & The Riddle’, ‘Way to Go’ and ‘Seussical Jnr’. We are so excited to present this years spectacular of ‘The Amazing Adventures of Superstan’
The preparations and running of each production draws together many talented and dedicated members of our school’s community. The children experience a sense of teamwork and achievement that they will remember for many years to come.