At Rookesbury Park we believe in the importance of music in the creative development of all our children. Practical music making is at the centre of our creative music curriculum – in our well-resourced music room all children have the opportunity to perform, improvise and compose. Singing is at the heart of the school: Years 3-5 sing weekly in the junior choir whilst all the Year 1 and 2 children sing in the pre-prep singing group. In addition, the Rookesbury Singers is a smaller, audition-based choir for those children in the prep department and Uppers who would like to take their singing further. All these groups have regular performance opportunities. Our commitment to singing was given national recognition in December 2010 when we received our Sing Up Silver Award- we are one of only two Hampshire prep schools to have achieved an award.

We offer free recorder club and orchestra as extra curricular activities, which are open to all pupils who would like to take part. We also offer an extensive programme of peripatetic instrumental lessons for singers and instrumentalists. Many of our instrumentalists enjoy using their new-found skills in their class music lessons and practice for boarders is encouraged and supported. Year 3 children learn recorders as a whole class as part of their curriculum and Year 5 learn keyboard skills, in a manner similar to the Wider Opportunities project provided for state schools by the Government.

We also have excellent partnerships with other educational establishments. In November 2010 we were fortunate to have a live performance in school from the 24 members of the University of Chichester Theatre Ensemble, followed by informal chamber music, which gave our children an opportunity to talk to the young instrumentalists about their music and instruments.