Pupils in all year groups receive a minimum of one hour of music teaching per week through timetabled lessons in their year groups and whole school singing assemblies.
We use “The Original Scheme” from Warwickshire Music Hub’s Charanga platform, which is informed by the National Curriculum. In line with the curriculum for music and guidance from Ofsted, this scheme moves away from the previous levels and learning objective/outcome concepts to an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. It is a spiral curriculum where the key musical skills and learning are repeated across the Units of Work. This repetition enables more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills across a breadth of repertoire. The interrelated dimensions of music are at the heart of all the learning activities.
Each Unit of Work comprises the of strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:
- Listening and Appraising
- Musical Activities (warm-up games, optional flexible games, singing, playing instruments, improvisation and composition)
- Performing
Furthermore, all pupils have the opportunity to explore a different instrument each years, through whole-class ensemble teaching such glockenspiels, untuned classroom percussion, recorders and ukuleles.
The Learning Activities Listen and Appraise is the first learning activity in each step. Most units are centred on one style of music such as Rock, Hip Hop or Soul. The Listen and Appraise in Step 1 will be the unit song to help everyone get to know it well. In the other steps, the Listen and Appraise will usually be other well-known songs in the same style. This immersion in one style of music at a time will support students gaining knowledge and an aural understanding of each style.
All year groups participate in whole-school singing assemblies each week, delivered by our music leads. Pupils learn how to sing a range of unison and two-part or three-part songs, expressively and in tune. Pupils are given opportunities to perform in front of their peers, during school assemblies and at each end of unit class performance.
Pupils across all year groups are able to watch live performances from school, local and national ensembles. These opportunities to witness live music-making complement their own experiences of composing and performing during whole-class lessons and deepen their understanding of what it means to be a ‘whole musician’.
If you require further information about our Music curriculum, please speak to our Music Lead, Mr Bain.