Music & Drama
Music Provision
In addition to weekly class music lessons, where children make music using tuned and untuned percussion, there are opportunities to learn the piano, singing, violin and recorder.
St Joseph’s has worked with professional violinist Michael Bochmann MBE and his charity Water City Music for the last few years, and last year pianists took part in a concert in Malmesbury Abbey alongside another primary school in a concert designed to inspire the next generation of musicians.
There are regular recitals in the School Hall for parents throughout the year.
Singing
Children at St Joseph’s love to sing!
Children learn a wide repertoire of hymns ranging from traditional to contemporary and they enjoy a weekly singing assembly on Wednesday afternoons.
Choir
Choir meets every Wednesday lunchtime and is free to KS 2 children. They perform at many community events throughout the year.
In 2025, these included Stand Up to Cancer fundraising afternoon, Malmesbury’s Late Night Shopping Event and Heals’s Christmas lunch. The choir regularly entertain in residential homes and support local celebrations such as St Aldhelm’s 150th anniversary.
Drama
St Joseph’s children performed the musical Oh! Athelstan in Malmesbury Abbey, written by John Hughes and Mike Scanlon, as part of the town’s celebration of Athelstan 1100 and also sang in the opening ceremony.
St Joseph’s students love a good musical! The whole school performed the professional version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat to a packed out Abbey last July. This year we are rehearsing Hannah and the Tyger, another musical by John Hughes and Mike Scanlon. This was only performed once before in 2006 and we are very proud to be able to perform it, putting our St Joseph’s spin on it, and including every child in the primary school.
Every year, the school performs a Nativity Play for parents.
2026 Production: Hannah & the Tyger
Following their sell-out performance of Joseph! the cast of St. Joseph’s School & Nursery returned with a ground-breaking production of Hannah and the Tyger.
The year was 1703, and a young barmaid, Hannah Twynnoy, could not resist the temptation of stroking a tiger from a visiting circus. What happened next made for the greatest unsolved mystery of Malmesbury.
Written by local artistic powerhouse, John Hughes and Mike Scanlon, 80 childnre, aged 4-11, played to a packed audience in Malmesbury Abbey.
