Once again, St John’s Church of England School in Harrow has been extremely busy performing these past few weeks week.

A small group of singers aged seven to 11-years-old were performing at Bentley Priory Museum on Saturday, in the Flying Without Feathers concert, to celebrate the RAF’s 100 year anniversary.

They joined Tonic Choir and the Chiltern Singers in this special concert where the children sang songs about being evacuees and wanting to be a pilot.

The children put on two concerts to a packed audience on both occasions. Mrs Ogunniyi, the music teacher at St John’s says: “It has been a fantastic opportunity for the children to be involved with other local choirs and to perform at such an auspicious venue”.

St John’s Church of England school received fantastic news last week as their school orchestra were chosen to go to the National Finals in the Music For Youth Festival. There were many excellent entries for the Regional Festivals but only a few were selected to perform at the National Festival Final which will take place in Birmingham in July.

Mrs Ogunniyi comments: “This is such an honour to be chosen. It is the first time that we entered this competition and to be chosen to go to Nationals is recognition of the hard work and commitment that the children have put in.

“What makes it extra special is that one of the children in Year 6, Max, wrote and arranged one of the pieces that we will be performing in the competition.”

The children meet once a week after school and also play for their clergy assembly every Wednesday. Enthusiasm for the orchestra has grown throughout the year and there are now over 40 children who regularly attend, making it one of the largest ensembles in any primary school.

Mrs Hester, the head teacher, adds: “I am so proud of the achievement and dedication of all our pupils in Keeping Music Live at a time when many schools are having to reduce their music provision. It’s great to see their enjoyment when performing as an ensemble. These pupils have the potential to become professional musicians of the future.”