Music Subject Leader: Mrs M Milne
For any more information on Stone St. Mary’s Music Curriculum, please contact the office.
We aim for all of our children to have access to a high-quality Music curriculum. We provide children with many opportunities to develop their musicianship and creativity. Our children have the chance to explore a variety of genres and create their own musical pieces.
Intent
Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School recognises that children who have access to high-quality Music teaching develop confidence, resulting in a positive effect on wellbeing.
In line with the national curriculum, we aim to:
- Give children opportunities to 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.
- Teach children to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence.
- Give children opportunities to 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.
At Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School our aim is for children to leave our school with a love of Music and be able to use it as an outlet for creativity. We are committed to making sure that children are exposed to a variety of genres and give children many opportunities to appreciate music from other cultures.
Implementation
Our children at Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School, participate in weekly high quality and engaging Music lessons with clear progression as well as music being incorporated into daily routines to help inspire self-expression. Teachers are confident to teach children the many elements needed to be a good musician. Our lessons are taught with a focus on one or more of our connecting stones: genre, instruments, appraisal, notation and performance. Over the course of the year, children will have covered all these connecting stones in depth. We have a weekly singing worship, where children are exposed to a selection of well-known songs and learn new ones frequently. Children are encouraged to sing in the correct way including singing with light and shade.
We have a range of high-quality instruments in school for children to have access to and use in Music lessons. Children enjoy having the opportunity to discover new instruments and experimenting with sounds that can be made. Children learn to develop their musicianship by composing their own pieces of music using notation. In Year 4, children learn to play the ukulele with a Specialist Music Teacher. Some children receive extra music support through Rock Steady, a scheme that helps children learn to play an instrument in a band.
Every term, children are exposed to a musician who they will research and appraise their music which embeds an appreciation of music. This gives children an opportunity to experience a range of genres and musicians from many different cultures. This encourages a use of musical vocabulary which develops through this element of our music teaching.
We have a very popular choir that have many opportunities to perform throughout the year in concerts and in the local community. We hold an annual music concert where children are given an opportunity to showcase their musicianship by performing songs or playing an instrument.
Impact
By providing our children with high-quality teaching in music, children learn to develop an understanding of the many elements needed to be a musician. During their time at our school, children learn to love listening to music and appraising it and they become excellent composers and performers. Children will leave our school having been immersed in a variety of different genres and music styles.
Children’s confidence and belief in themselves will grow year on year as they are given many opportunities to perform and showcase their talents.
Appraisal
Genre
Instruments
Notation
Performance
Music in Each Stage
Children learn music in EYFS under the umbrella of ‘expressive arts and design’. Children learn to distinguish sounds and match instruments to these sounds. Children learn to sing and perform simple songs, while clapping the beat or rhythm. Children experiment with different sounds that their bodies can make. In Early Years, children are encouraged to use instruments in their child-initiated learning time, using them to create sounds of animals or using sound to retell a story.
In Key Stage 1, children build upon their knowledge and understanding of instruments and sounds that they have experienced in EYFS.
In Key Stage 1 children should be taught to:
- Use their voices expressively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes.
- Play tuned and untuned instruments.
- Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music.
- Make and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions.
In Key Stage 2, children develop their skills as musicians by having greater opportunities to explore the many dimensions of music.
In Key Stage 2 children should be taught to:
- Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using voice and playing instruments with increasing accuracy, control and expression.
- Improvise and compose music using the interrelated dimensions of music separately and in combination.
- Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory.
- Use and understand the basics of the stave and other musical notations.
- Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music from different traditions and from great musicians and composers.
- Develop an understanding of the history of music.
Music Progression
The Music curriculum overview shows what each year group is learning throughout the school year. The Music milestones show how our children can achieve each connecting stone during their time at Stone St Mary’s C of E Primary School.
SEND Information
Our Music lessons are adapted for children that may need it. There is support within class for our SEND children so that they can access the learning. Lessons are monitored to make sure that children are all able to access the Music curriculum.