Music

 

Intent

At Mill Lane Primary School, it is our intent to provide a music curriculum which is enjoyable and inspires a passion for music. It encourages creativity, enthusiasm, self-expression and a love of music which lasts a lifetime. Listening and responding to a range of musical styles, becoming composers and developing as singers and performers, enables pupils to become confident, reflective musicians. At Mill Lane, we have children from many different countries and cultures. Music is a unique form of communication that can affect people on both emotional and intellectual levels, playing an important part in the personal development of an individual and transcending cultures, abilities and generations. We ensure that children face no barriers in the music curriculum. Music is a universal language which is easily accessible to SEND and EAL children.

Implementation

At Mill Lane Primary school, the music curriculum is progressive throughout the whole school, using the EYFS framework and National Curriculum to guide us on the content and focus of each objective. The music curriculum ensures pupils sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. We employ a specialist music teacher who teaches the majority of the music curriculum. He has great enthusiasm and expert subject knowledge and musical skills which inspire the children to aspire to be musicians. Our progression of skills document ensures that the curriculum is covered, building upon previously taught knowledge and skills so that key concepts are embedded in the children’s long-term memory so they can apply them fluently.

The Early Years Foundation Stage follows the the EYFS guidance. The most relevant areas of learning for music are Communication and Language, Physical Development and Expressive Arts and Design. At Mill Lane, the children in EYFS explore different percussion instruments, sing, listen and move to music.

In Key Stage 1, we build on the skills and knowledge obtained in EYFS. Children are taught to use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes. Through lessons which particularly focus on samba percussion instruments, composition and graphic and music notation, they are taught to play tuned and untuned instruments and to experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the interrelated dimensions of music. They listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music, including local composers and musicians.

 

In Key Stage 2, we build further on the skills and knowledge obtained in EYFS and Key Stage 1. The skills and knowledge in Key Stage 2 are particularly developed through lessons which focus on samba percussion instruments, boomwhackers, music theory and GarageBand. In addition, in their classes, years 3 and 4 are taught to play the recorder. Children are taught to sing and play with increasing confidence and control. They develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory. They are taught to play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency and expression. They improvise and compose music using the interrelated dimensions of music and using staff and other musical notations. The children listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory. They appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians, including local composers and musicians. Their understanding of the history of music is developed.

All children in Key Stage 2 are given the opportunity to join the school’s choir, Glee Club. They perform at an annual choir festival, go carol singing in a local shopping centre, perform at the Mayor’s carol service and lead singing in whole school/key stage performances throughout the year.

The children in our nurture class are taught using their own personalised curriculum.  They access a hands-on curriculum that follows the thread of the whole school planning.  Their work is differentiated following assessments using PIVATs and personal assessments. 

Impact                                                                                                                                  

The benefits of music are having a positive attitude to learning and improved well-being. At Mill Lane, we strive so that children will achieve age related expectations in music at the end of their cohort year and they will retain knowledge that is pertinent to music. More importantly, well-being and confidence will be improved. Our music curriculum is of a high quality and teachers have high expectations. It is planned progressively, building on and consolidating prior learning. Children use relevant musical vocabulary and apply skills and knowledge to their work. Their confidence and resilience improve. Music has a high profile in the school, having a prominent position in various whole school/key stage activities. We measure the impact of our curriculum through formative assessment during lessons, termly summative assessments evaluating their skills against those identified on the progressions of skills document, photographs and videos of the children’s practical learning, pupil voice and learning walks.

 

In summary, children at Mill Lane leave Key Stage 2 having forged their own musical journey. They use relevant musical vocabulary, they can apply skills and knowledge to their work and are confident and resilient performers.