Music Overview

“Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging. In our schools, music can bring communities together through the shared endeavour of whole-school singing, ensemble playing, experimenting with the creative process and, through the love of listening to friends and fellow pupils, performing. The sheer joy of music making can feed the soul of a school community, enriching each student while strengthening the shared bonds of support and trust which make a great school.”   DFE Music Curriculum

Intent:

The aim of music teaching at Whitfield Aspen is to ensure that music is accessible to all, and promotes inclusion and emotional wellbeing. The children should have regular opportunities to show what they have learnt through performance. This builds children’s confidence and is key for motivation. Children should gain a wide-ranging knowledge of composers and genres of music, having listened to a variety of different types of music, including the opportunity for ‘cultural capital.’ The children should be confident discussing and analysing this music using the correct musical terminology. The children should have opportunities to create their own music, drawing on the skills that they have gained through listening and appraising music. Perhaps most importantly, the children should gain a lifelong love of music, and be able to state and explain their preferences. Throughout their music lessons, children will learn to work collaboratively, to defend their own views whilst listening and respecting others, to develop their leadership skills and to think creatively. These are important skills that the children can use not only across their whole curriculum, but that they can take into the wider world beyond their school life.

In order to achieve this, we will ensure that all pupils:

• Have the opportunity to take part in music activities, inside and outside the classroom
• Understand the language of music and be able to use this language to analyse pieces of music that they hear
• Are exposed to a range of different genres of music, including key cultural pieces

Implementation:

Currently, the music curriculum is in a period of transition as we shape a new curriculum around the new Model Music Curriculum produced by the DFE. The long-term plan and progression documents have been updated to reflect this and to ensure that no learning is missed and that it enriches learning which is already taking place in the classroom. The different strands of music: listening, theory, performing and composing will be taught together so that the children understand that they are intertwined very closely. The long-term plan will allow for repetition across the year groups, building on previous learning. This means that by the end of year 6, the children should be confident using musical language to appraise a piece of music and should know the musical building blocks to be able to perform and compose. Children will therefore be able to confidently transition to a Year 7 curriculum. Where possible, there will be cross-curricular links with other disciplines in order to help the children to make links with other subjects and therefore understand more fully how music is a part of everything around us. The long-term plan includes progression though the year groups and the pathway curriculum.

Impact:

Throughout their time at Whitfield Aspen, the children will gain a knowledge and appreciation for different genres of music. They will be able to discuss these confidently and fluently, using key musical vocabulary. They will have the confidence to perform solo, in a small or large group in front of an audience. It is our aim that the children will leave at the end of year 6 enthused about a variety of music, and eager to experience more.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Pupil Voice

Informally assess at the end of each unit, through teacher assessment against the progression of skills document.

Partnerships with parents

Concerts and other performances throughout the year enable pupils from both the mainstream and SRP to come together to share their musical achievements to parents and the wider community, such as local care homes, Whitfield Summer Fete and the choir Christmas Concert.