Intent

Our main aim is that children leave St Kentigern’s with a wide range of happy and rich memories in Music, formed through interesting and exciting experiences, driven through vehicles that enhance a child’s awareness of their own abilities and strengths as a learner.

Our high-quality music education will 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. Children will meet the National Curriculum expectations in music, taught by staff who will support children to develop skills which in turn will enable them to develop a deeper understanding of the subject.

Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. Through wider ops and further music tuition, all children will learn to play an instrument and have some ability to read music. Children will learn to read and write staff notation, increasing their understanding of rhythmic and melodic notation. Children will develop self-confidence and teamwork skills through performance. They will have opportunities to sing as a class, in smaller groups and as a school community.

Children will listen to, review and evaluate a range of music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including contemporary music and the works of the great composers and musicians using subject specific vocabulary relating to the musical elements; instrumentation, metre, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tempo, texture, structure and melody.  Where possible, children will use music technology to compose simple rhythms and melodies.

Opportunities exist for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich their knowledge by, for example, attending performances by professional musicians and participating in school productions, concerts as well as the chance to take part in a 3000 strong choir during the Peace Proms concert. Other opportunities might include visits to concerts, meeting musicians, professional musicians visiting schools to work with pupils, musicians from other schools sharing their expertise with staff and children and performing in events in the community such as singing Christmas Carols at local care homes.

Implementation

We use BBC Ten Pieces to deliver the majority of our music curriculum in school. Each 6 session/lesson unit combines listening, composing, performing and learning musical language. In KS2, there is also a focus on the history of music. Through use of these classical music lessons, music lessons are fun and engaging; structured in a way that gives all children the opportunity to succeed. Children use a mixture of voice, tuned and untuned instruments as appropriate to their age and stage.

Children experience a wider range of genres through cross curricular topic work. Whether that is listening to and recreating rainforest sounds, listening to music popular in World War 2 or singing animal songs.

As a class (or Key Stage), children learn and perform songs as part of assemblies, nativities, productions and class masses. Although there have not been as many opportunities for this over the past two years due to Covid, these have recommenced this school year.

In addition to the music curriculum:

• all children in Year 3 receive 30 minutes samba drumming tuition a week
• all children in Year 4 receive at least one term of cornet tuition
• children in Y3 – Y6 are offered lessons in woodwind, brass, guitar, drums and keyboard, free of charge
• children in Y4 – Y6 are invited to choir

Children are given the opportunity to perform for the school and for wider audiences at events such as: Peace Proms, Choir of the Year, Schools Alive, Termly Music Assemblies and Au Revoir.

Impact

Children enjoy their music lessons. The impact of the lessons is constantly monitored, both formatively (during lessons) and summatively (at the end of the unit) against the lesson and topic objectives. 

 Many children chose to continue brass tuition after wider ops in Year 4. They either continue with the cornet or move on to euphonium, French horn or trombone and join our school brass band.

The expected impact of following our music curriculum is that:

• Children will be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school
• Understand the ways music can be written down to support performing and composing
• Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own musical preferences
• Meet the end of Key Stage expectations as outlined in the National Curriculum for Music

Intent

Our main aim is that children leave St Kentigern’s with a wide range of happy and rich memories in Music, formed through interesting and exciting experiences, driven through vehicles that enhance a child’s awareness of their own abilities and strengths as a learner.

Our high-quality music education will 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. Children will meet the National Curriculum expectations in music, taught by staff who will support children to develop skills which in turn will enable them to develop a deeper understanding of the subject.

Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. Through wider ops and further music tuition, all children will learn to play an instrument and have some ability to read music. Children will learn to read and write staff notation, increasing their understanding of rhythmic and melodic notation. Children will develop self-confidence and teamwork skills through performance. They will have opportunities to sing as a class, in smaller groups and as a school community.

Children will listen to, review and evaluate a range of music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including contemporary music and the works of the great composers and musicians using subject specific vocabulary relating to the musical elements; instrumentation, metre, rhythm, pitch, dynamics, tempo, texture, structure and melody.  Where possible, children will use music technology to compose simple rhythms and melodies.

Opportunities exist for children of all ages to experience learning beyond the classroom. This will allow them to enrich their knowledge by, for example, attending performances by professional musicians and participating in school productions, concerts as well as the chance to take part in a 3000 strong choir during the Peace Proms concert. Other opportunities might include visits to concerts, meeting musicians, professional musicians visiting schools to work with pupils, musicians from other schools sharing their expertise with staff and children and performing in events in the community such as singing Christmas Carols at local care homes.

Implementation

We use BBC Ten Pieces to deliver the majority of our music curriculum in school. Each 6 session/lesson unit combines listening, composing, performing and learning musical language. In KS2, there is also a focus on the history of music. Through use of these classical music lessons, music lessons are fun and engaging; structured in a way that gives all children the opportunity to succeed. Children use a mixture of voice, tuned and untuned instruments as appropriate to their age and stage.

Children experience a wider range of genres through cross curricular topic work. Whether that is listening to and recreating rainforest sounds, listening to music popular in World War 2 or singing animal songs.

As a class (or Key Stage), children learn and perform songs as part of assemblies, nativities, productions and class masses. Although there have not been as many opportunities for this over the past two years due to Covid, these have recommenced this school year.

In addition to the music curriculum:

• all children in Year 3 receive 30 minutes samba drumming tuition a week
• all children in Year 4 receive at least one term of cornet tuition
• children in Y3 – Y6 are offered lessons in woodwind, brass, guitar, drums and keyboard, free of charge
• children in Y4 – Y6 are invited to choir

Children are given the opportunity to perform for the school and for wider audiences at events such as: Peace Proms, Choir of the Year, Schools Alive, Termly Music Assemblies and Au Revoir.

Impact

Children enjoy their music lessons. The impact of the lessons is constantly monitored, both formatively (during lessons) and summatively (at the end of the unit) against the lesson and topic objectives. 

 Many children chose to continue brass tuition after wider ops in Year 4. They either continue with the cornet or move on to euphonium, French horn or trombone and join our school brass band.

The expected impact of following our music curriculum is that:

• Children will be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school
• Understand the ways music can be written down to support performing and composing
• Demonstrate and articulate an enthusiasm for music and be able to identify their own musical preferences
• Meet the end of Key Stage expectations as outlined in the National Curriculum for Music