Music

We  deliver an aspirational, coherent, and well sequenced music curriculum that enables each child to make progress as a musician. We believe that each child starts school with a wealth of musical knowledge and understanding through the experiences they have had so far in life, and they then build on this through music lessons in school. We place an emphasis on the creative and exciting nature of music and aim to help the children build confidence in their abilities through a rigorous and practical music curriculum.

The music curriculum at Kenton Primary School is heavily influenced by our ongoing work to support the Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs of our pupils. Inclusion, singing together, expressing ourselves and our thoughts and feelings play a vital role within our spiralized Music curriculum from Foundation Stage to Year Six. The learning and playing of music can help to build children’s self-esteem and confidence; when planned and taught effectively, children will have the opportunity to express themselves and engage critically with music. A wide range of genres and music types are covered within our music education offer, encouraging the children to identify with music and building upon their understanding of the wider world and their cultural capital.

Implementation

Using the scheme Charanga, Music is taught every half-term across the school and every child participates. Teaching is well thought out and adapted to ensure that every child can participate and make progress within their music education. Using Charanga, we have identified the clear learning outcomes for each stage of our pupils’ music education. Our curriculum is therefore sequenced and planned to give every child the opportunity to progress to and past these points. The knowledge and skills build upon prior learning to ensure every child is making progress within their musical education. The skills taught throughout our music curriculum are singing, playing, improvising, composing, listening, and developing in their social and emotional skills. Due to the spiralized nature of the curriculum, the music specific skills and knowledge (pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo, dynamics, timbre, texture, structure, and notation) are taught throughout the units of work and revisited and then built upon year by year. There are in built opportunities for children experience performing music as an ensemble, building upon their confidence, cultural capital and our school values of teamwork and creativity. Teachers consistently model taking creative risks and foster a creative atmosphere that transcends subjects that allows children to feel comfortable with their own developing creativity.

We assess the impact of music education throughout the learning process and provide opportunities for children to reflect on themselves as musicians. Recording work in music is vital and children will make progress through listening to and improving upon their work as well as that of others as they move through the school.

Impact

The impact of teaching and learning will be determined through subject monitoring, SLT reviews and performance. Assessment is on-going within music education and starting points for all children are different, based upon the musical exposure they have had so far in their lives. Teachers will use assessment materials from Charanga to monitor progress and to ensure the pupils are meeting appropriate end points. Pupils will leave Kenton Primary School with a sense of achievement in Music and a confidence in expressing themselves, listening and offering critique to others and confidence in their own creativity and ideas. They will be ready for wherever their music education takes them throughout secondary school and beyond.