Intent
We make music an inclusive and enjoyable experience. By exposing children to a range of genres of music from different cultures and time periods, we aim to help them build up and understanding of musical terminology throughout their time at school. This will enable them to discuss confidently the music they have listened to – explaining their feelings, likes, dislikes, and will prepare them for the additional learning they will receive in later education.
During music lessons children will be taught to actively listen to a range of music from varying genres and eras. They will develop descriptive skills in music lessons to allow them to represent feelings and emotions. As the children get older, there is an expectation that they will be able to maintain their concentration for more complex and extended pieces of music. In addition, we teach the children how to compose their own pieces of music, supported by a range of technology and how to perform confidently to an audience.
Early Years
- children listen to a wide range of sounds, pieces of music and have opportunities to explore and play with music making equipment both inside and outside.
KS1
- use their voices expressively 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 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 from different traditions and from great composers and musicians.
Research Links
At St Georges, we feel the importance of music should be embedded into everyday practise. Research commissioned by the DfE from the Institute of Education shows that “quality” music education improves behaviour, attention and concentration and has a hugely positive effect on numeracy and language skills
Professor Hallam
Dr Andrea Creechy
Implementation
The importance of high quality teaching in music is a key driver at St Georges School. Each term, the school focusses on a different strand of the curriculum and this is taught in every year group. Before each unit, staff are supported with planning by use of the Charanga scheme. There is external continued music provision provided for children in Year 3 which allows children to deepen their understanding of music. In each lesson, they have opportunities to listen and appraise, read musical scores and perform.
Children also showcase their learning from peripatetic music teaching as part of worship and musical praise. The choir leads the singing in musical praise and also performs to audiences in the community.
Cross curricular links are vital within the school and support from the computing lead has enabled software from the website ‘purple mash’ to be used in lessons – especially with the composing strand. As the use of technology within music is a relatively new area for our school, it is a focus for the 2019/2020 academic year.