Music
Statement of Intent for Music
Music makes an important contribution to the life of every school and should be celebrated, promoted and encouraged. It helps build pupils’ self-esteem and self-discipline and leads to higher standards across the curriculum. Research clearly demonstrates the cognitive benefits that music gives young children particularly in the early years and Key Stage 1, suggesting music can support the development of literacy, numeracy and listening skills. The Department for Education has stated that a high-quality music education can improve self-confidence, behaviour and social skills as well as improve academic achievement across the curriculum.
At Canon Popham C of E Primary Academy, we have engaged and invested in an award-winning programme that provides high quality, consistent music education throughout school. Charanga Musical School is a world-leading music teaching and learning platform, which is recognised internationally as promoting a modern and vibrant class music programme across the whole school that supports all the requirements of the national curriculum and underpins Ofsted’s wish to see continuous genuine music making.
Intent
The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:
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Perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
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Be taught to sing, create and compose music
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Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated.
At Canon Popham C of E Primary Academy, the intention is that children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. Our objective at Canon Popham C of E Primary Academy is to develop a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in any person’s life. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts.
Implementation
The music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. Our planning for this to be implemented is through the Charanga Music scheme which will support the teaching of music across the school.
Teaching of Music in Early Years Foundation Stage
In Early Years, music plays a large part in children’s development matters. Children sing songs make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. Children are taught to represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music and dance. Music is an important part of aiding the development of fine motor skills, which is an important part of the early years curriculum.
Teaching of Music in Key Stage 1
Pupils should be taught to;
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Use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
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Play tuned and untuned instruments musically
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Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
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Experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
Teaching of Music in Key Stage 2
Pupils should be taught to;
* 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.
Impact
We believe that music allows the opportunity for all children to let their light shine and to learn vital skills that could change their lives. Children will develop a range of musical skills including: listening, appraising, composing, improvising and learning musical notation. Children will develop a greater understanding of musicianship by playing a musical instrument like the recorder, as it helps them learn essential skills such as rhythm, melody, and coordination. We want children to enjoy and appreciate music, whilst beginning to understand the fundamental elements of music: pitch, dynamics, duration, tempo, timbre, texture and structure. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich palette from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music, in as many ways as they choose- either as listener, creator or performer. They can dissect music and comprehend its parts. They can sing and feel a pulse. They have an understanding of how to further develop skills less known to them, should they ever develop an interest in their lives.