At St. Peter’s, we believe our golden thread of PETERS Values should weave its way through our curriculum, including our subject of music.
Intent
In Music, children will be provided with opportunities and experiences to help pupils reach the desired national curriculum expectations by the end of Key Stage 2. They will achieve this through the developmental progression in their knowledge, skills and understanding on a termly and yearly basis. In Music, children develop their learning by following a systematic termly music programme which incorporates a combination of singing, playing musical instruments and musical composition, at age-related expectations. Through the study of different musicians and music genres, children will learn about a diverse range of key role models, to develop an awareness of musicians and the significant figures who have helped to shape the subject.
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 music.
- understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.
Implementation
We use the original “Charanga” online scheme of lessons, as well as some occasional standalone projects / workshops from eg. The Liverpool Philharmonic, to help the children explore key concepts as they move through the school. Our curriculum is laid out in such a way that the children will initially learn how to listen for everyday sounds how to choose objects to make an intended sound and perform when given visual cues. This will be a starting block in EYFS and built upon as they enter Key Stage 1. As a child moves through our school, their musical skill and understanding will deepen as it would have been built on the foundations laid in the previous years. The core musical concepts of listening, performing and composing are revisited in different units allowing children to apply new knowledge and increasingly musical interpretations to the concept. For example, children in EYFS and KS1 would approach musical notation by first looking at pictures of instruments as a cue to when to play, before moving on to letters eg. A, G , B and correlating them with the appropriate notes on an instrument such as a glockenspiel or recorder. Then, as they progress through KS2 they will move to graphic notation and be expected to recognise, use and begin to write some traditional western notation.
In addition to class music lessons, the children are given regular opportunities to sing together in collective worships, with a particular focus on vocal warm up and singing techniques in weekly whole school Come and Praise sessions. The children are also given the opportunities to perform to a wider audience s through a variety of church services, concerts, performances and plays. When appropriate, the children are also encouraged to take part in the school choir and additional small singing clubs at lunchtimes.
We also provide opportunities for the children to listen to live musical performances through our visits to The Liverpool Philharmonic as well as inviting visitors to perform at school.
Students are given the opportunity to experience small group or individual instrumental lessons with visiting peripatetic teachers on piano, woodwind, string and brass instruments. We also offer a provision through a link with Edsential for whole class learning of an instrument.
We aim to make music an enjoyable learning experience and an integral part of life at St Peter’s. It is taught as both a discrete subject and within other areas of learning when deemed appropriate.
Impact
Our Music Curriculum is well thought out and planned to ensure progression. Our teachers measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
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A knowledge check at the beginning of each unit to see what the children already know
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Link each of our core strands to previous learning, to compare and contrast and to review understanding
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Start lessons with a recap of key knowledge and understanding from the previous session
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Provide opportunities each lesson to use the key vocabulary
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Assess children at the end of the unit against key knowledge and learning as appropriate.
The leadership team check that this impact is being secured through monitoring the subject on a regular basis. This includes:
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Staff subject knowledge, which is audited to ensure knowledge is secure, and additional support provided if necessary.
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Ongoing discussions with staff to discuss and evaluate the effectiveness of lessons / schemes with the subject leader. From this, inconsistencies can be addressed and planning is amended and adapted to ensure the curriculum remains relevant for the children
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Class surveys conducted to allow pupils the opportunity to contribute to their curriculum content.
The impact of this is that students at St Peters are enthusiastic musicians who are equipped with age-appropriate skills and knowledge but perhaps most importantly, a life-long love of music.