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St Michael's C of E Primary School

St Michael's C of E Primary School

Music at St Michael's

Music at St Michael’s

The National Curriculum defines music as 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.

 

Aims

The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians
  • learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence
  • understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Intent

 

At St Michael’s, we want our children to have a fun musical education, which inspires and provides them with a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing. We aim to introduce the children from EYFS to Year 6 to an increasing range of music from across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community, and can use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts.

 

 

Implementation

  • At St Michael’s, our music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom activities as well as the weekly Sung Worship; Hymns as part of Collective Worship, at church services and as part of the school’s celebration of Christian festivals; various concerts and performances; the learning of instruments and our school choir.
  • Each class has a weekly session of music. As a school, we use the Charanga Music School Scheme, an award-winning, modern-day resource for primary music which offers a complete scheme to teach the National Curriculum. The learning within the Charanga Scheme is based on: Listening and Appraising; Musical Activities — creating and exploring; and Singing and Performing.
  • In Year 4, we have whole class ensemble teaching led by a peripatetic music teacher from Bexley Music in which the children are taught the trumpet. These lessons incorporate teaching musical notation, singing, as well as learning to play an instrument.
  • The children’s experience of music is also deepened through a variety of enrichment opportunities including trips to see the London Symphony Orchestra and participation in the Young Voices performance at London’s O2 arena.

 

Impact

 

Children at St Michael’s show a deep love of music; an appreciation for the skills needed to learn an instrument and a passion for singing as a result of a carefully planned and passionately delivered curriculum. Throughout their time at St Michael’s children have access to a varied and engaging programme, which allows them to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. Our children enthusiastically talk about their music learning and the knowledge and skills they have acquired. In-school concerts and participation in wider opportunities show children performing competently and confidently.