This ensemble provides our youngest violin, viola, cello and double bass students, the chance to explore early ensemble skills and experience performance on stage. Students can be as young as Year 1 in the early stages of learning, or are often emerging instrumentalists from the curriculum, Year Three String Program. Students in this ensemble rehearse weekly and participate in School performances and in local competitions. The Piccolo Strings Ensemble is the perfect introduction to stage performance as part of an ensemble. It plants the seeds for further development of their skills in the more advanced string ensembles at Junior Grammar and Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School.

The Junior Grammar String Ensemble is an award-winning ensemble that provides intermediate violin, viola, cello and double bass students, the chance to further explore and develop their ensemble skills with like-minded peers. As a stepping-stone from the Piccolo Strings Ensemble, this group participates in a variety of in-school and wider community performances, rehearsing and performing more complex repertoire. Students range in age, our youngest students being in Year 3, and are highly dedicated musicians, many of whom undertake private specialist tuition on their chosen instrument.

The Junior Grammar Wind Ensemble is made up of woodwind, brass and percussion students, many who have enjoyed their time in the Year Five Band Program and who are keen to continue developing their ensemble skills in Year 6. The Wind Ensemble focuses on the early stages of learning, laying the foundation for future concert band and chamber ensemble development. This ensemble enjoys performances both within the School and for the wider community of Ipswich, in both the competitive and non-competitive arena. Students rehearse weekly with expert band directors who impart their knowledge and love of performance with the students, developing their love of music and sharing their talents with like-minded peers.

The Junior Grammar Tiny Trebles Choir, under the leadership of our expert choir director, is our youngest choir at Junior Grammar. Made up of Years 1 and 2 students, this choir allows our youngest of singers the chance to explore what it feels like to sing as part of a large choir with fellow students. Students in this choir often have no prior experience of singing and many have not performed on stage. They learn skills such as choir etiquette, singing in time, memorising lines and developing their aural and rhythmical skills and enjoy working with over 40 like-minded peers. The Tiny Trebles Choir is a fantastic introduction to stage performance and our students enjoy performing for many in-school and wider community events.

As a stepping-stone from the Tiny Trebles Choir, the Junior Grammar Melodies Choir provides the next stages in a child’s choir development and experience. Students in this choir are from Years 3 and 4 and explore more complex harmonies and rhythms under the baton of our expert choir director. At this stage of their choir development, the Junior Grammar Melodies Choir being learning the value of forming a “choral sound”, developing their aural skills and learning to blend with one another. The Melodies Choir rehearses weekly and enjoy competitive performance in the wider community of Ipswich as well as a variety of in-house performances at Junior Grammar.

The Junior Grammar Harmonies Choir is made up of Years 5 and 6 students who are the most developed singers in the school. Learning a range of contemporary, popular and classical repertoire, they enjoy sharing their love of singing with other likeminded peers and are often found on the School and community stage for various important events. In 2018, the Junior Grammar Harmonies Choir represented the School in Chengdu, China, as part of an international choir event. Whilst in China, they performed for stage and screen and enjoyed working with other choirs of all ages from across the globe. This choir rehearses weekly with our expert choir director, developing their aural and rhythmical skills and performing at various school events and at events in the wider community of Ipswich

Working in collaboration with the renowned Ikin Dance company, students from Years 4 to 6 are invited via audition, to participate in the Junior Grammar Dance Troupe. This Troupe, made up of our most talented dancers, rehearses weekly during a lunch time with an experienced Dance Instructor from Ikin Dance, learning dance styles such as modern jazz, hip hop, contemporary, musical theatre and much more. Our enthusiastic young dancers enjoy performing for various events in the school and the wider community of Ipswich and have travelled previously to the Gold Coast to perform for the Gold Coast Titan’s pre-game entertainment.

The Junior Grammar Drama Club Program is offered to students from Years 3 to 6. These groups worked with an experience Drama Instructor, exploring drama through acting, miming, improvisation, theatre sports, choral speaking and storytelling. Drama Club students meet once a week after school, for one-hour sessions with their Instructor, creating their own plays and group mimes, and learning to recite poems as a group. They perform for School events and enjoy competing at the local Ipswich Junior Speech and Drama Eisteddfod in the ‘Choral Speaking’ sections. Drama Club teaches children valuable skills such as teamwork, communication, creativity and how to develop their imagination.