Music

Intent, Implementation & Impact Statement - Music

Intent 

What are we trying to achieve with our curriculum? 

• Children will access and enjoy a variety of music styles. 

• They will be able to appreciate and understand a wide range of traditions and cultures through different musical genres. 

• Children will learn to listen carefully, fine-tuning their auditory skills and developing their ability to evaluate and appraise. 

• Children will be able to listen to and repeat a simple rhythmic or melodic pattern. 

• Children will use their voices expressively to speak, chant and sing. They will be given opportunities to sing short songs from memory. 

• Children will develop the confidence to express themselves through music. 

• They will have the opportunity to participate in musical performances both in the classroom and on a stage, providing a sense of achievement. 

• Children will explore and create music using tuned and untuned instruments. 

• Children will be able to identify inter-related musical dimensions e.g. tempo, pitch and timbre. 

• Children will understand how music is created, produced and communicated through the elements e.g. pitch, and timbre. 

• Children will be able to break down barriers and communicate through the universal language which is music. 

Implementation 

How do we plan to deliver our curriculum? 

From Early Years, Key Stage One through to Key Stage 2, our children are taught music through the Charanga Curriculum. They also have a range of music-making resources and media available to them at all times as part of the continuous provision in their learning environments. The resources offer the children a wide scope of learning opportunities. 

The musical instruments available in the music curriculum allow children to: 

• Make their own music. 

• Explore musical notation. 

• Explore the sounds different instruments make. 

• Use instruments in role play e.g. a hand-bell to alert firemen. 

• Make their own instruments, investigating and having a preference for the sound they want to make. 

• The Bluetooth speaker, iPads, recording buttons and clipboards allow children to: Listen to a range of music. 

• Choose to listen to music for different purposes e.g. music to dance to. 

• Record their own voices or other sounds and listen to them. 

• Watch different kinds of instruments being played. 

In Reception, we start our integrated approach to musical learning, laying down the foundations for Key Stage One. The children are taught using the Charanga Curriculum. We expect that the children will continue to explore music and musical instruments during continuous provision. Throughout Key Stage One and Key Stage Two, the Charanga Scheme follows an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. It is taught through a combination of subject knowledge and composing, performing, listening and appraising skills. As well as in the Early Years, singing has an important role and we encourage children to sing nursery rhymes and other relevant songs every day. In addition to this, children in Year 3 all learn the Mini Steel Pans and Djembe furthering their understanding of pulse and rhythm and promoting learning an instrument. Children have the opportunity to choose to play a wide range of instruments as an elective which can then also support them in their curriculum music. Currently, children are offered the choice of Piano/Keyboard, Violin/Viola, Guitar, Drums, Steel Pans. Children will also use Music Technology to widen their understanding of composition. The culmination of musical experience in the classroom will support the children in our school performances such as the annual Carol Service in KS2, The KS1 Nativity and the Year 6 Production. 

Impact 

What impact is our curriculum having on our pupils’ musical knowledge? 

Children develop their cultural understanding and are aware of a broad range of musical styles and notation. They explore instrumentation and develop their confidence in making music. They can use basic musical vocabulary to discuss and show their understanding of musical elements such as tempo and timbre. They can apply this knowledge to their performances or compositions. They are confident to participate in performances in front of their peers, their families and in some cases the wider community. 

This is assessed through: 

Pupil voice 

Videos and recordings

Observations 

Ongoing assessment (day-to-day, Charanga teacher assessment tools). 

Tracking (individual pupils, groups, classes).