The music department is a flourishing Department  

GCSE Music has, for the past five years had an average pass rate of 96% with pupils specialising in various genres including pop singers and classical instrumentalists. Every type of talent is catered for in the music department at St Michael’s Catholic School.

In the classroom are eMac computers that have many of the educational music programmes installed.

All the music teachers have a major pastoral role to play in the music department, as pupils are taught individually and in groups for half an hour per week during the school day.

Lesson fees are heavily subsidised by the school putting it on a par with music specialist schools. 

There are many extra curricular activities.  Recently, 40 pupils went to see La Boheme at the Colliseum watching the English National Opera.  We also took 30 KS4 pupils to see Giles Peterson's Havana Cultura in a live BBC radio broadcast as part of the London Jazz Festival.

We also get involved with projects in the community and recently completed a major project with the Aurora orchestra.

Our choir also sing at Masses with the school band and perform at Millwall FC before games to raise money for charity.

London Jazz Festival

Pupils went to a concert by the Portico Quartet.

This concert was modern jazz in style and was enjoyed by pupils in the instrumental music department.

"A very inspiring evening of jazz played amazingly well" said Nico Nouv in year 11

"This concert  inspired me to take up the saxophone" said Taylor Bradshaw year 7.

In from the Cold

Over the festive season, The Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall was home to an exciting programme of free events aimed at all the family at the heart of which was an Igloo Cinema, (an inflatable screening room that took the form of a melting Igloo.)

The School Band performed to a backdrop of a festive ballroom that was brought together with dramatic rotating chandeliers, northern lights style lighting and stunning decorative lanterns made from hundreds of papercut artworks made by Lambeth and Southwark school children including contributions from St Michael's Art Department.

Music department concert performance at the Senior Citizens Christmas
party in the School Hall - 12/12/09.

Members of the school band serenaded the elderly from the local parishes resting homes during a Christmas dinner.

Christmas charity performance at Millwall Football Club's Family Fun Day - 20/12/09

The choir performed popular Christmas pop-songs before the match (between Millwall and Crewe -Alexandra) and on the pitch at half time along with the "Southwark Cheerleaders."

This was a fun- packed afternoon where pupils had the opportunity to perform outside to a large crowd of football fans who cheered them on enthusiastically as well as getting free tickets to watch the game afterwards and meet some of the footballers!

Veronica Quinn, the Catering Manager at the club, also donated half season tickets to see Millwall FC play at home, to two lucky pupils from St Michael's. A picture of the choir appeared in the following weeks Millwall FC match day programme.

Lewisham College offers a Performing Arts course focusing on popular music styles from sixth form to degree level.

The music that the students played on the day was very hard rock in style and performed to a very high standard although perhaps not to the RnB tastes of many in the music class!

Several of the pupils in year 11 played for our guests, much to the pleasure of the rest of the class!

Lewisham College has invited pupils from our school to come along anytime and visit their faculty.

XLP Southwark Performing Arts Showcase Winners 2010- St Michael's catholic School-Black and Gold. TThis was an exceptional result for the school given that there were pupils representing all the Southwark secondary schools.

Judges said afterwards that the standard of performances given by our pupils was way above the rest!

The Mayor for Southwark Council presented pupils with their prizes and this can be seen on the XLP website www.xlp.co.uk.

Prizegiving Concert May 2010.

This event will be held t in the School Hall and will include performances by all pupils involved in instrumental and vocal study as well as from the winners of the Southwark performing Arts Showcase 2010.