Music
Intent:
At Rushy Meadow we believe that all children have a right to music as a consistent and ongoing part of their education. Children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 all have a weekly 45-minute music lesson as part of their permanent timetable in addition to 20 minutes of singing time in the form of an assembly. We value music in its own right for the joy it brings children to be able to create it as well as for the transferrable social and academic skills it develops to support them across the curriculum. Our music lessons take a heavily practical approach, following a progressive curriculum, with the intention that children steadily increase their skills year on year as well as their understanding of elements of music. Our aim is that by the age of 9, children have received specialist tuition in at least two musical instruments, giving them solid musical foundations as well as a passion for creating music. By doing so, we seek to encourage children towards continuing their musical journey through individual music lessons or involvement in groups provided by the music service. We do not want socio-economic factors to be a barrier to children experiencing the benefits of music, so we believe that it is important that opportunities to watch and participate in live musical performances are available to all children as part of our curriculum or as free extra-curricular activities.
Implementation:
In order to simultaneously inspire children and demonstrate what they will be working towards achieving, hooks in music often take the form of listening to or watching accomplished musicians perform. This could be in the form of recorded music, videos or live performance from WCET tutors. Children from Nursery to Year 6 all take part in live performances to an audience throughout the year and therefore have an exciting event to work towards.
When children are introduced to a new instrument, the first thing they do is take some time to explore it independently and find out by playing it and playing with it what it can do and how it sounds.
Children are encouraged at all times to reflect on their response to music that they hear and that they play themselves. Repetition of skills through rehearsal and recapping of previous learning form the basis of micro progression within each lesson, ensuring that children are confident with the previous skill before building on it. This helps them retain these skills and apply them with increasing independence as they gain more experience. Evidence is largely in the form of video and audio recordings so that children are only required to produce paperwork if it directly furthers their understanding or skills with respect to the learning objective. For example, children may produce a graphic score of their composition if they are learning about graphic scores but if the focus of the lesson is the composition itself, a recording allows them to place their full attention on crafting their piece.
All of our children have at least one opportunity to perform to a live audience each year, providing them with the means to showcase and celebrate their learning. Our Year 5 and 6 children use the Soundtrap programme for their music technology lessons. As they have all been provided with Winbooks for their exclusive use, they can and do use the software in their personal time to explore and create music for their own enjoyment.
Self and peer evaluation is inherent in the music curriculum both as part of the acquisition of each new skill and when reflecting back after a performance or the completion of a composition. Children are encouraged to examine their feelings about the music as well as the overall success of the endeavour.
Creative learning opportunities are embedded throughout the music curriculum by the very nature of the subject. Children are empowered by taking part in performances and feeling the pride of being able to demonstrate their learning in a way that has such a visible positive impact on their audience. Children can choose to get more deeply involved in the musical life of the school by joining in with extra-curricular activities like Choir and Recorder Club. In the case of choir, this comes with extra chances to perform to a wider audience, such as the Young Voices concert at the O2. Through our relationship with Sutton Music Service, our children have been able to watch professional musicians in concert.
Impact:
When children are doing well in music, it is very apparent in the sound of what they are singing and playing and this is evidenced in the form of video or audio. The children also become more confident in the way they present themselves when engaging in music. This presents itself as knowledgeable discussion of musical topics, performing with increased competence and expression of enjoyment in their craft.
Click on the documents below to see the learning journey our pupils take in their music curriculum.