Purpose of Study

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high quality music education should 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. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.

Why do we teach music?

Department for Education: Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. (2013)

Nick Gibb, Minister for Schools: The government is committed to ensuring that high-quality music education is not the preserve of a social elite, but is the entitlement of every single child. (2018)

Stevie Wonder: Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand, with an equal opportunity, for all to sing, dance and clap their hands. (1977)

Music gives children the opportunity to explore their creativity, build imagination and curiosity, enhance their memory, increased coordination, develop emotionally, teach discipline and gain a sense of achievement to name but a few benefits.

Intent

At The Bay, we believe that the music curriculum should give all children access to a quality, creative music education, with a blend of practical and theory with a focus on giving the children the inspiration to create their own music, believe in their musical capabilities and excel in confidence to perform in front of their peers. All children should be able to leave the school being able to read simple notation, play melodies on keyboard instruments and identify key features in a piece of music.

Implementation

Children at The Bay will receive a mix of classroom teacher based learning and specialist music teaching, alongside regular singing assemblies. Each year group will receive a minimum of half a term of specialist music teaching each academic year which will cover the full curriculum. To compliment this each class will receive at least 2 singing based music lessons each half term following the SingUp Scheme of Work.

The specialist scheme of work is designed to cover a wide range of genres and includes use of a variety of instruments from different cultures. Students will have time to learn theory such as Reading and Writing staff notation. History of music including the development of western classical music.

Impact

By the end of primary school, the children will leave with a basic musical knowledge that they can build upon with their secondary education:

Love of music – Writing own songs – Joining ensembles – Instrumental lessons – Attend live music events.

End of Key Stage 1 Expectations

• I can use my body to create rhythms
• I can use tuned and untuned percussion instruments to create music
• I can change the tempo, dynamic and pitch of my music to fit
• I can identify some changes in a piece of music

End of Key Stage 2 Expectations

• I can play a variety of different instruments including Keyboard Instruments (Glockenspiel) and Ukulele (Minimum of 3 chords)
• I can read and understand basic music notation
• I can show my knowledge about the great composers throughout history
• I can explain the key moments in the development of music.
• I can Improvise/Compose in a variety of Genres

National Curriculum: The Aims

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 inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

National Curriculum Key Stage 1

Pupils should be taught to:

• use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
• play tuned and untuned instruments musically
• listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music

 National Curriculum Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.

Pupils should be taught to:

• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
• improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
• listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
• use and understand staff and other musical notations
• appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
• develop an understanding of the history of music.

Curriculum Information

Click here for EYFS Knowledge Organiser

Click here for Whole School Music Unit Plans