Music

There is music in every child. The teacher's job is to find it and nurture it.

Frances Clark

Intent

At Christ Church CE Primary, our vision is firmly rooted in our belief that ‘With God, all things are possible’ (Matthew 19:26). We strongly believe that our Music curriculum intends to inspire creativity, self- expression and encourages our children on their musical journeys as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others. We hope to foster a life- long love of music by exposing children to a diverse range of musical experiences and igniting a passion for music. By listening and responding to different music styles, finding their voices as singers and performers and as composers, all will enable them to become confident, reflective musicians. Our Christian values are at the heart of all we do and underpin the teaching and learning of Music. These values are what influence our behaviour and our motives, helping us to aspire to become local, national and global citizens. They are based on our belief that CHRIST is within all of us.

Our ambitious Music Curriculum has been designed to take account of the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the Primary National Curriculum. The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:

Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
Learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the interrelated dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Music is an important part of the children’s entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. Children are provided with opportunities to develop and extend skills and an opening to engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. Learning about music enhances our pupils’ cultural experiences within our local, national and global community. We strive to reinforce the importance of having a great enjoyment and appreciation for music to enrich and enhance the lives of our pupils, as we firmly believe we are here to create and celebrate aspirations for life and to inspire individual growth. We want our children to develop a love of Music and to understand that there are no limits to their future ambitions.

In order to create a firm foundation for individual growth in all learners, it is crucial that procedural knowledge is embedded into the long- term memory. This pedagogy is built on John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory being central to developing learning and understanding. At Christ Church, children are able to process information in relation to previously learned knowledge through revisiting prior learning. This is supported by the use of musical vocabulary and ensures that all learners have a good exposure of vocabulary to enable them to learn, develop and move on. In addition to this, we have adopted a whole-school approach of collaborative learning within lessons to further the Sweller approach and to promote inclusion. This is apparent in Music lessons, as well as Carol Dwerck’s Growth Mindset, which empowers children to achieve their best and persevere in the face of challenges. This approach allows children to build resilience and encourages personal growth.

Implementation

At Christ Church, faith is the foundation of everything we do. Learners develop skills and understanding which equip them with the skills they need to make positive choices, widen horizon and create aspirations for life as local, national and global citizens. We implement a Music curriculum which builds on this and on prior knowledge and skills across phases.

As a school community we strive to ensure that our pupils’ voices are heard and valued throughout all aspects of school life, including the curriculum. Pupil Voice surveys are carried out termly in Music to ensure that pupils’ voices are heard in the shaping and reviewing of the Music Curriculum.

At Christ Church, the Music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom activities as well as our collective worship, various concerts, performances and the learning of instruments. Through a planned curriculum, structured to our children’s needs, we use different musical programmes to enhance learning. We use a mixture of Charanga, Sing Up and Edsential learning to enhance and support our pupil’s music curriculum.

Music is taught every week, with an external music teacher supporting this. In the classroom, children learn how to play the clarinet, the glockenspiel, the recorder and a variety of percussion instruments. Playing instruments enables children to use a range of methods to create notes, as well as how to read basic music notation. They also learn how to compose, focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument.

Music is taught in every year group of KS1 and KS2, in a 40 minute session per week and 20 minutes per week in EYFS. Music is taught discretely in KS1 and KS2, making relevant cross-curricular links where relevant and purposeful. These lessons take place in classrooms, where children feel confident and comfortable to explore and perform. Music lesson learning is recorded through pictures and videos, as well as live performances.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, Music is taught through understanding of the world, but also has links to Communication and Language, Physical Development and Expressive Arts and Design. Listening to and creating music helps children learn numeracy, literacy and emotional skills. Incorporating music into routines and play in the early years has a positive influence on a child’s early development. It gets them moving, thinking and inspires creativity.

We ensure that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to deliver the highest standards of Music. As a school we are committed to ensuring teachers have good subject knowledge and are supported to maintain and improve this knowledge through coaching, training, observing best practice and undertaking relevant research. Staff are supported by the Music Subject Leader, ensuring clear progression of both skills and knowledge across phases.

To enrich the curriculum and empower learning, a weekly lunch time choir gives children the opportunity to develop their singing and performance skills, as well as collaborating with peers. In addition to this, purposeful opportunities are provided to perform in the local environment, such as Church and Residential Homes. We want children to be inspired by music and to find their own unique musical style. To support us in achieving this, we are committed to working in partnership with parents to provide the best outcomes for our pupils.

Impact

At Christ Church, our approach to the teaching of Music results in high quality lessons and enthusiasm for the subject throughout school. Music at Christ Church enables children to develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – either as listener, creator or performer. Children have the opportunity to discuss and share their own thoughts, opinions and ideas, acknowledging and respecting that these may vary and that this is positive.

Learning about Music enhances our pupils’ cultural experiences within our local, national and global community. By creating a firm foundation for individual growth, all children will make good progress academically, from their starting points. Staff across school assess using the objectives on our MediumTerm Plans. Assessment is undertaken through videos, pictures, live performances and teacher observations.

Pupil voice is used throughout the year to provide an insight into enthusiasm for Music throughout school; as well as, pupil understanding of what they are learning throughout the year. In order to evidence the knowledge and skills developed throughout the Music curriculum, pictures and videos are taken and recorded to show progression across phases. Blippit is also used to showcase practical activities, discussions and extra-curricular activities which take place throughout the Music curriculum. To evidence skills developed throughout the Music curriculum, pupils understand and utilise subject specific vocabulary. In lessons, pupils demonstrate their ability to combine the knowledge they have developed with the skills they have learned in previous year groups.

Outcomes:

Pupils will continue to develop and extend skills.
Most children will understand and apply subject specific vocabulary.
All pupils will learn how to perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions.
All children will learn to sing and use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others.
Children will have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence.
Children will learn to understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.
Children will start to learn some basic musical notation.