Music

INTENT:

At Sutton Benger CE Primary School, we recognise the importance of music in our daily lives. We aim to instil a love of music and we want our children to be curious and to ask questions to develop their understanding of music in the world around them. Our music curriculum is deliberately knowledge and vocabulary-rich as we believe it is vital to acquire a cumulatively sufficient understanding of musical concepts. We believe in the power of music and the feeling of elation that a performance can bring, particularly when performing during music lessons or singing together at collective worship. Our intention is that children experience a rich curriculum, having opportunities to listen to a range of music, to sing, compose and perform for a purpose. We recognise the need to develop musical skills and understanding, so that our children can be fully immersed in units of learning that allow them to be creative and to learn, grow and flourish within the music curriculum.

In conjunction with the aims of the National Curriculum, our music curriculum offers opportunities for children to:

• 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:

Music is blocked as units of learning within a 39-weeks curriculum map. The children take on the state of being of ‘Being a Musician’ and are fully immersed in a curriculum unit that is dedicated to music, with pre-existing knowledge from other curriculum areas used to support where possible. Knowledge Organisers are provided for every music unit and they include the foundational knowledge needed first in order to access next learning. Subject specific knowledge is also included which allows pupils to then apply when thinking critically within the unit. The implementation of music in this way supports children to become fully secure in each music unit as well as supporting them to build progressive understanding of the key concepts that are woven throughout the curriculum. To support high quality planning and assessment, teachers draw upon knowledge from the school’s music subject leader, as well as from experts within our multi-academy trust, DBAT.  The ‘Music Express’ scheme, plans and resources are used to support both specialist and non-specialist teachers in their planning for music lessons.

To ensure a cumulatively sufficient curriculum, key concepts are woven throughout. Our curriculum is designed to ensure that all children access the key concepts within a range of units as they progress throughout the school: performing, listening, reviewing and evaluating music; and children are challenged to meet learning expectations for their key stage. Key concepts are referred to throughout the curriculum units so that children are given opportunities to recall and retrieve knowledge in order to support them to build upon it.

Our curriculum is vocabulary-rich, both in terms of common, technical and extensive specialist vocabulary. All musical vocabulary which is key to the unit is included as part of the Knowledge Organiser and is referred to throughout the unit. Children are given opportunities to develop and practise their vocabulary and oracy so that they become confident, articulate musicians who are able to critically appraise music from a wide range of styles from the world around them as well as being able to apply their knowledge to their own compositions and performances.

At Sutton Benger CE Primary School, children are taught a balance of musical knowledge and practical skills.  An understanding of how music is created, produced and communicated is key to the children’s development in this subject.  They work collaboratively with children of a range of abilities and make links with other areas of learning in subjects such as English, Maths, Modern Foreign Languages and Art. During music lessons and singing practices, children are encouraged to use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes.  The children are given opportunities to play tuned and untuned instruments; are encouraged to listen to a range of high-quality live and recorded music and to improvise and compose music for a range of purposes.

We offer a number of private peripatetic instrumental lessons during the school day in a dedicated room. These currently include: Piano, Guitar and Drums. All of our peripatetic teachers are registered with Wiltshire music Connect. Children who access peripatetic lessons are encouraged to perform at church services and other whole school events throughout the school year. Since September 2021 we have also offered ‘first access’ to instruments, meaning that children in lower KS2 are taught to play the recorder, using the ‘Red Hot Recorder’ online resource.

IMPACT:

• Children at Sutton Benger CE Primary School have a love for music and singing.
• They will enjoy listening to and appreciate a wide range of musical styles - from different traditions and from great composers and musicians.
• They will have begun to develop an understanding of the history of music, which they can take with them as they move on to secondary school education.
• Children’s growing talent as musicians will have a positive influence on self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.
• Children will play and perform in a range of musical activities and contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression. 
• They will understand that it takes practise in order to get better at a musical skill.
• Children will love music enough to pursue musical activities outside of school.
• Pupils will have good memories of music at Sutton Benger CE Primary School and music will continue to be important to them for the rest of their lives.