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Music

Intent

Every child at Whitehouse Primary is recognised as a unique individual: we celebrate individuality and welcome difference within our school community. 

It is our aim to provide our children with a curriculum that is aspirational for all with every child’s ability to learn underpinned by the good teaching of basic skills, knowledge, personal wellbeing, individual challenge and values that will prepare our children for life beyond primary school.

At Whitehouse Primary School, it is our aim that we make the subject of Music an enjoyable and positive experience for all pupils and to first and foremost help children feel that they are musical. We encourage children to participate in a range of musical experiences to develop their self-esteem, confidence and musical appreciation as they progress through school. The children are given the opportunity to participate in Early music sessions in EYFS, drumming workshops provided by Tees Valley Music Service in Year 3 and extracurricular opportunities such as violin sessions and Choir in KS2. Our music curriculum ‘The Kapow Primary Curriculum Scheme’ introduces children to a variety of music across the world and through generations to respect music from across all traditions and communities. We focus on developing the musical skills, knowledge and understanding across all year groups, whether that be listening & appraising, composing, performing, singing and playing an instrument.

Children will develop the musical skills of:

Our music scheme of work ‘Kapow’ enables children to meet the end of key stage attainment targets set out in the National Curriculum.

Through our music curriculum the children develop the transferable skills such as team working, leadership, creative thinking, problem solving, decision making, presentation and performing skills. These skills are fundamental in order to develop as holistic learners and have a wider application in their lives outside and beyond education.

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 are taught to;

Teaching of Music in Key Stage 2

Pupils should be taught to:

Implementation

At Whitehouse, we take a holistic approach to music in which the National Curriculum objectives are woven together to create an engaging, enriching learning experience,

At Whitehouse, the teaching and learning of music follows the spiral curriculum where musical knowledge and skills are continually revisited and built upon holistically. Each unit of work progressively builds on the the children’s previous  musical knowledge and skills to ensure progress is evident as the children move up through the year groups. Each unit has been carefully designed to capture children’s imagination and explore the musical skills enthusiastically through a cross curricular approach to teaching and learning which reflects our whole school curriculum approach. By the end of the scheme children will be taught how to sing fluently and expressively, and play tuned and untuned instruments accurately and with control. They will learn how to recognise and name the interrelated dimensions of music (theory) such as pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics ; using them effectively in their own improvisations and compositions. Please see the Curriculum Overview Document, which show the skills that are taught within each Year group and how these skills develop to ensure that children meet the objectives set out in the National Curriculum securely by the end of each Key Stage. The Music End Point document shows which of our units cover each of the National Curriculum strands and when they are taught. Our music lessons incorporate a range of teaching strategies from paired/group work, improvisation and teacher-led performances. Lessons are differentiated according to the learning styles and the ability level of all children to enable opportunities to both stretch and challenge children that are more able and support less able children and SEN. Subject knowledge is vital to facilitate the delivery of a highly effective music curriculum.

Teachers are provided with clear guidance and CPD in the form of videos to develop staff subject knowledge before teaching each lesson. It is a requirement that music is taught for at least an hour weekly – this can be in the form of discrete music lessons, singing assemblies and instrument lessons.

We offer a variety of musical opportunities both within and additional to the curriculum to raise the profile of music within school. Every week, we sing in assembly, where the children sing a variety of different songs and hymns linked to celebrations, religious festivals and events. We have a weekly KS2 Choir, who perform at various locations throughout the year, including performances at the Mayor’s Carol Concert and School Fayres. This offers the chance for children to develop their singing and performing ability. We also offer children to opportunity to participate in TVMS workshops such as drumming in Year 3 and fundamental music skills in EYFS. We also offer violin instrumental lessons through TVMS across KS2. We have a music week every year, where the children have a musical theme and focus. This has ranged from using the BBC 10 classical pieces as a stimulus to modern day musicals exploring the key musical skills and knowledge of each musical.

Impact

The impact of our Music curriculum can be monitored regularly through both summative and formative assessment opportunities. Children are assessed at the end of each taught lesson. Children are recorded as ‘WT, SU or GD’. Floor books are to be used for each year group containing at least 6 pieces of evidence for each NC objective across the year to demonstrating progression (Listening and appraising, composing, performing, singing and musical theory) – QR codes, photographs, videos or written theory work. Each lesson provides guidance to support teachers in assessing pupils against the learning objectives. After the implementation of our music scheme children should be equipped with a range of skills to appreciate and enjoy music throughout their lives.