At Karrinyup Primary School we highly value our music program. We have a dedicated music specialist who provides an enriching and diverse program. Year 1-6 students attend a 90-minute lesson each week focusing on the fundamentals of music and musicianship, through a combination of Kodaly and Orff based principles.

All year levels are taught through singing, beat and rhythm, movement, and composition. Year 1 – 3 students learn through playing percussion instruments. To promote music literacy and performance practice, Year 4 students learn to play the recorder and xylophone. Year 5 & 6 students learn to play the ukulele, with a greater focus on composition and performance.

Choir

All students from Year 3-6 are offered the opportunity to sing in a choir. Students are required to make a commitment to learning songs from memory and attend rehearsals, and all performances for the whole year. Our ensembles perform in music events at school and within the community. A highlight for the Senior Choir is the WA Massed Choir Festival, which takes place in Term 3. Our Junior Choir participate in the One Big Voice Concert at the RAC Arena in August.

Instrumental Music School Services (IMSS)

In addition to our classroom music program, students may be offered instrumental scholarships, provided by IMSS. These lessons begin in Year 5 and continue through to Year 12. The instruments offered include trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, and classical guitar. Students participate in a 30-minute group lesson each week. Year 6 IMSS students form our Concert Band Ensemble, rehearsing weekly for 40 minutes.

Entry into the program is based on:

• Performance results of an aptitude test (Musical Aptitude Indicator – MAI test)

• Student interest in learning the musical instrument offered.

• Parent commitment and support

• Musical ability as demonstrated in class music activities

• Attitude towards homework.

• Physical suitability to playing the selected musical instrument.

Health & Physical Education is celebrated in a number of different ways at KPS. Students in Kindy and Pre Primary participate in a ‘Fundamentals of Movement’ program once a week, concentrating on skills such as climbing, balancing, jumping, running, throwing and catching. Health topics covered in class include healthy eating, teeth brushing, personal hygiene and sickness.

In Years 1-3 Health & Physical Education occurs weekly. The focus is on gross motor skills and introductory skill development for various sports, as well as creating a beginning awareness of fitness development. Students are encouraged to participate at their own ability level by participating in core strengthening, coordination, flexibility, aerobic endurance and body and spatial awareness activities.

Years 3-6 the focus moves to specific sports and in particular, the skills associated with each. Students are encouraged to develop their skills and apply these in game like situations. We continue to expose the students to movements and actions which improve personal fitness such as core strength, aerobic fitness and flexibility. Students are able to then apply these skills at various carnivals and interschool competitions.

Across the year, KPS participates in a number of local carnivals including cross country, swimming, Winter sports (football and netball) and athletics. Our four factions – Karlaa (Fire / Red), Yonga (Kangaroo / Yellow), Yakkan (Turtle / Green) and Djinda (Star / Purple) promote healthy competition between students and teachers across year levels and provide a sense of community in the sporting arena.

Karrinyup Primary School has a long-standing Japanese program which introduces students to the language and culture of Japan whilst fostering a positive attitude towards celebrating differences and recognising commonalities. We have a dedicated Japanese room which provides a stimulating environment full of support materials and cultural items. Student achievement is celebrated through regular displays.

Students from Years 1 to 6 participate in a 45-90-minute session each week. Lessons focus on communication, with students working collaboratively in pairs and small groups to exchange information and share ideas using scaffolded Japanese phrases.

In their first year of Japanese, students are introduced to the country and its culture and then begin foundation topics such as greetings, titles, numbers, self-introductions and colours. From Years 2 to 6 students cover a range of units in line with the Western Australian Curriculum such as family, birthdays, seasonal events, sports, food, school, daily routine and leisure activities, housing, the neighbourhood, shopping and planning events. All units are taught through a variety of interactive games, peer exchanges and creative tasks and provide students with the opportunity to practise skills such as problem-solving, cooperation and making connections with their own language/s. Students demonstrate their learning by giving presentations, performing role-plays and creating written tasks such as manga.

Students begin learning the 46 basic hiragana characters of the Japanese syllabary in Year 2 and then move on to learn how these combine to make words and sentences. Students then incorporate the voiced and combination sounds as well as an introduction to katakana and frequently used kanji. Hiragana are taught in ‘belts’ much like in karate. Once one is mastered, students move on to the next set. This helps student meet achievable goals quickly, whilst building on prior knowledge.

Each year, students participate in a number of cultural activities such as traditional arts, cooking and festival-related craft. Karrinyup Primary School enters submissions to the Japanese Language Teacher’s Association WA calligraphy competition each year and have had great success in the past.