Music

Intent

We intend that our high-quality music teaching 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.’ (National Curriculum, 2014). We recognise the power of music to inspire creativity and individual expression and to support positive mental health and wellbeing.

Specifically, our teaching will 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.

Implementation

Our teaching of Music will take place through the use of units of lessons from the scheme of work (which is based on the National Curriculum) developed and delivered by Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust. Within each unit pupils develop their knowledge of musical styles and genres as well as skills in using instruments, including their voice. They are also exposed to the music of a wide range of artists, both historical and contemporary and develop their knowledge of the history of music.

Specifically, children will learn to:

KS1

• 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.

KS2

• 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.

Please refer to the Long Term Curriculum Plan for further details.

We incorporate music extensively into our annual whole school musical production where all children in school (from EYFS to year 6) have a part. We also enable pupils to receive individual music lessons with peripatetic teachers from Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust (NMPAT) on a weekly basis. Each year one class engages in a 10 week series of workshops to learn a new instrument with an NMPAT teacher through their First Access Project (e.g. drums, ukulele, ocarina).

Impact 

We expect the vast majority of children to achieve the national curriculum age-expected standards at the end of each academic phase of teaching (Y1/2, Y3/4 and Y5/6). These standards (detailed in the national curriculum) summarise the knowledge, skills and understanding that children should have gained.

Our music teaching helps pupils to ‘develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon.’ (National Curriculum, 2014)