Music
Intent: Our Music curriculum is designed to enable children to experiment creatively and expose them to a wide-range of performing and creativity. Children listen to and respond to a wide variety of music genres and instruments. We work closely with Rocksteady to provide Rock and Pop band sessions, where the children join their very own band, learn drums, guitar or vocals in an inclusive and supportive environment. We hold many whole school performances each year for parents and children to enjoy: Harvest Festival Concert, Spring Concert, Christmas Carol Concert, Year 6 Musical etc. At the end of KS1, all the children attend a West End show to immerse them in a full musical experience.
Implementation: From EYFS to Year 6, music learning builds and progresses by becoming more proficient in using a wider range of instruments and instrumental techniques. Children increase their musical vocabulary throughout the range of different technical skills as well as the difficulty in the variety of pitches found in different songs. For example, in year 1, children learn songs with only a few different pitch changes whereas children in year 6 will learn more complex patterns of pitch as well as singing in multiple parts. Within each year group, the learning follows a systematic approach; children learn to replicate and repeat what they hear before moving on to composing their own music and then creating their own improvisations around their ideas once they have developed the first two skills. We use both Music Express and Charanga to support teachers with planning and resourcing. We use these because it provides teachers with relevant training programmes to develop their own subject knowledge. Charanga is an interactive online resource, which enables children to sing and perform together in a group.
Impact: Our teachers rely on a range of assessment tools to provide data on the knowledge and skills pupils have, their progress and their development points. This includes: assessment for learning, application tasks, enquiry tasks, end of unit questions and contributions in lessons. Throughout the course of the lesson the class teacher (and support staff where present) will move around the class, offering support/challenge where needed so that each child is receiving direct feedback during the lesson.
