Music
Intent
The Primary National curriculum for music states:
‘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. ‘
At Roundhay St. John’s we aim to deliver the National Curriculum in all its breadth to every child. Through quality teaching we want our music curriculum to nurture an enjoyment of music, help children to discover new musical skills and develop a respect for different musical traditions and cultures.
We aim to ensure every child has the opportunity to be a performer, a listener, a responder, a reviewer and a creator of music.
As a school community we are fully committed to bringing people together through a shared love of making music. 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.
Implementation
Every child from Reception to Year 6 has a weekly music lesson in class.
All pupils from Year 1 onwards become familiar with and play a keyboard, tuned percussion and untuned percussion. Reception and Nursery children enjoy singing and using instruments within provision and in groups. Listening, reading, maths and phonics learning is often taught through music or songs in EYFS and Key stage 1.
As a school we have a whole school singing practice every week which is enjoyed by both pupils and staff. Children learn to warm their voices up and how to produce a quality sound through useful techniques. All class music lessons follow the Charanga scheme, which provides a classroom-based and inclusive approach to music learning. Throughout the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole-body actions, learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. Through a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose, and perform.
Sometimes lessons are linked to the year group topics. For example, Year 4 learn songs from the Victorian era and study the Music hall tradition. Year 6 learn about music styles and songs popular in World War 2, understanding the significant impact Black American musicians had on British music and culture at this time and continues today. This ensures children are introduced to a variety of music cultures.
Children are taught to listen with concentration, focus and develop their understanding of pitch, rhythm and tempo. They are encouraged to compose and improvise, to create their own songs and pieces of music. The teaching of notation begins with responding to symbols and progresses to reading and performing music using staff notation. Pupils are introduced to the history of music and to the works of a variety of composers in class and through whole school ‘Music Appreciation’ with the aim that children will develop a knowledge of music history and styles through the centuries up to the present day.
Mozart
Bethoven
Samuel Colleridge-Taylor
When a year group have a Learning Journey Topic with obvious music links, we will have a workshop from Leeds music services to support this. For example, when Year 2 study Indian culture they will have a Dhol drumming and percussion workshop. Year 3 and 4 study the music of South America through their topics so will take part in a Samba drumming workshop.
All children at RSJ have access to take part in extra-curricular music and activities. If a child wants to learn an instrument, they can take part in the Instrumental lessons such as steel pans, keyboards, guitar, flute, violin and clarinet.
Music plays a big part in our daily collective worship at school and in Church. Our children are given the opportunity to perform in concerts, plays, carol services, class assemblies, and community events throughout the year such as Oakwood Day in April or the Oakwood Christmas lights switch on and Summer bank holiday events.
Impact
We will monitor the impact of music teaching through:
Listening to children sing and play instruments in groups and individually at set times over the year to ensure they are making progress and improving vocal skills.
Observing and monitoring how they create and perform music in lessons.
Asking and questioning children about what they know.
Regular performance opportunities within and out of the classroom.
The Music Curriculum will contribute to children’s personal development in creativity, independence, judgement, and self-reflection. This can be seen through their ability to speak confidently about their work, perform in front of and with others. Progress will be shown through outcomes and through the important record of the process leading to them.
