Scholes (Holmfirth) Junior and Infants
Music Curriculum Statement
Staff Responsible: Sarah Curtis
This document outlines the purpose, nature and management of the teaching and learning of music in our school. It reflects the views of all the current teaching staff and was drawn up as part of whole-staff INSET training. It has the full agreement of all subject leaders. The implementation of the subject is the responsibility of all staff in school and will be monitored by the SLT and subject leader. An action plan is linked to this curriculum area in order to develop the subject within our changing school.
The Nature of Music
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.
Intent
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.
Our music scheme, Sing Up aims for every child to have access to high-quality, practical, and engaging musical experiences through our pupil and teacher resources. We want all children to develop the selfconfidence, skills, knowledge, and understanding to develop a lifelong love of music, whilst also providing a secure foundation that enables them to take music further should they wish to. Teachers are as crucial to this aim as the resources themselves and subsequently our goal is for teachers to enjoy teaching Sing Up Music lessons as much as children enjoy taking part in them. Sing Up Music sets out the skills, knowledge, and understanding to be gained by all pupils at each stage of learning, including the Early Years Foundation Stage. We believe that a music curriculum should draw on a broad range of musical traditions, using authentic songs and materials and so, aim to ensure that our curriculum exposes children to these traditions.
Through our CLEAR intent, we ensure that learning is planned thoroughly around the distinct needs of children at Scholes School.
Communicative
We aspire for our children to be able to articulate their musical interpretations. In music, lessons are driven through the development of oracy skills and their expansion and use of accurate musical vocabulary. Through this they show their knowledge and understanding.
This is demonstrated through:
Questioning by teachers and pupils
Partner and group discussions
Explaining and evaluating through verbal and written work
Vocabulary used by teachers and pupils
Local
Music is very much at the heart of Scholes Junior and Infant School. Children take part in various local events throughout their time with us including:
Hepworth Feast
Monthly coffee mornings at the local church where they sing and/or play instruments.
Hosting coffee mornings at school with a singing performance.
Enriched
Our music curriculum, within lessons and beyond, gives pupils a range of musical opportunities, providing children with new and exciting experiences to develop their love of music.
Each year, all pupils will have the opportunity to perform in a concert for parents: Reception, Year 1 and 2 at Christmas; Years 3, 4 and 5 at Easter; and Year 6 take part in an end of year performance.
Children are able to access additional music tuition with many choosing to learn to play instruments such as the guitar, drums and piano.
They also have access to ‘Rocksteady Music School’ where they form a band taking on roles such as drummer, guitar player or singer. Children take part in a weekly singing assembly, bringing the whole school community together.
Ambitious
At Scholes School, our curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. We understand that children have varying musical backgrounds and experiences but aim to ensure all pupils are exposed to a wide range of musical genres and instruments to allow pupils to discover what interests them. We have high expectations in terms of technical music vocabulary pupils are exposed to as well as ensuring all pupils have the chance to learn to play a percussion instrument as well as the ukelele during their time with us.
Remembered
Music lessons ensure opportunities for pupils to retrieve prior learning and build upon this when learning something new. Lessons are adapted to ensure progression of all pupils. Many musical concepts are revisited over time allowing pupils further opportunities to develop their substantive and disciplinary knowledge.
Implementation
Organisation and Planning –
Music at Scholes School is taught according to the year group guidance as part of the 2014 National Curriculum Music is linked to other curriculum areas where appropriate – see cross-curricular section.
Music is taught through a variety of both practical and theoretical activities. The scheme ‘Sing Up’ is a starting point but adapted to meet the needs of all pupils whilst supporting non-specialist teachers. It is divided into the following areas:
Improvise and Compose;
Sing and Play;
Listen and Appraise.
Pupils from Reception through to Year 6 have the opportunity to access all three areas of music. For example, in Reception, children identify and describe contrasts in tempo and pupils in Year 4, Listen and appraise, recognising elements of the music that establishes the mood and character.
The music curriculum leader delivers specialist teaching of percussion to Year 4 and teaches Years 5 and 6 to play the ukelele.
Continuity and Progression
Class teachers plan the subjects for their year group and then, as part of Key Stage teams and the work of subject leaders, ensure that there is progression across the team. The subject leader ensures there is clarity within the curriculum across school. This is then built into the long-term plan for school. The class teacher, with key stage partners, will ensure that the statutory objectives from the National Curriculum have been covered. The subject leader will ensure that all objectives have been taught by the end of each key stage.
Cross Curricular Links
Links to other areas of the curriculum are made where it is appropriate to and not at the detriment of the intended learning outcomes.
Example links are as follows:
Science – senses (Year 1), sound (Year 4), materials (Year 1 and 2).
English – spoken language.
History – musical influences and changes over time.
Geography – origin of musical genres and instruments.
Resources
Scholes School has a wide range of musical instruments and resources including a full class set of recorders and ukeleles, keyboards and a wide range of percussion instruments.
Inclusion
Teachers set high expectations for all pupils. They will use appropriate assessment to plan challenging work for all groups, where appropriate, including:
More able pupils
Pupils with low prior attainment
Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds
Pupils with SEN
Pupils with English as an additional language (EAL)
Teachers will plan lessons so that pupils with SEN and/or disabilities can study every National Curriculum subject, wherever possible, and ensure that there are no barriers to every pupil achieving.
Teachers will also take account of the needs of pupils whose first language is not English. Lessons will be planned so that teaching opportunities help pupils to develop their English, and to support pupils to take part in all subjects.
Further information can be found in our statement of equality information and objectives, and in our SEN policy and information report.
Impact
Recording and Assessment –
Ongoing assessment for learning is used throughout music lessons to ensure learning is adapted to meet the needs of all pupils. There is no formal written summative assessment requirement for music at Scholes School. Teachers plan their music lessons within the objectives from the 2014 National Curriculum. Teachers then record an overall teacher assessment at the end of each term on SONAR.
Monitoring
Monitoring of music at Scholes School is carried out in a variety of ways. These include:
Observations where appropriate – these are usually linked to SIP requirements or Performance Management objectives
Peer observations are encouraged for staff to explore teaching styles and activities in a less formal way than observation
Pupil discussions may be used to gain insight to attitudes towards music.