Creative Arts
At The Oratory Prep School Creative Arts are deeply woven into the fabric of our school’s culture and learning ethos.
Music
Music is such an important part of school life for children of all ages and each child’s timetable features music with specialist music teachers every week. With nine peripatetic teachers and a Head of Music, Mrs Emily Reed, there are ample opportunities for practice, performance and progress.
We have a purpose-built music department complete with a suite of practice rooms, a large rehearsal room with a vast array of instruments and a music tech room. Throughout their time in Junior Prep, children explore instruments and genres, compose, perform, learn to play the ukulele and recorder, sing in choirs, and have the opportunity to take individual instrumental or singing lessons. Through their studies in Junior Prep we aspire to make music fun, to inspire them to further their skills whilst developing a life-long love of music.
Drama
From the youngest age, children make regular visits to our Theatre and at different times in the year take stage and showcase their blossoming creative talents by performing, for example, in our Nativity play and Harvest Assembly. Year 3 and 4 pupils have the opportunity to entertain and impress in an annual ticketed big production for parents.
We make the most of our modern theatre with its large stage, 300-seater auditorium and state of the art sound and lighting systems.
Weekly drama lessons give pupils a platform to build confidence and step out of their comfort zone to take on roles that will extend and challenge them on stage. It encourages creativity and collaboration on stage and behind the scenes.
Outside of the curriculum, LAMDA is incredibly popular among children in Year 1 and above with one to one lessons on offer and the opportunities to perform to parents as well as the school. LAMDA has a long and highly reputed history at the school and so many of our young pupils are inspired by pupils in the more senior years securing Distinctions and Drama Scholarships and Exhibitions.
Our pupils also take part in workshops run by visiting drama group, ‘Perform’.
Dance
Children in Reception upwards enjoy a timetabled dance lesson in our dance studio, while Nursery and Kindergarten children often engage in specialist dance lessons, and take part in movement to music sessions with their class teachers as part of their physical development.
Extra-curricular dance, including Creative Ballet, Tap, Modern, Street Dance, and ‘Magical Adventure’ are on offer as lunchtime and after school activities.
