Music
Music at St Anne's
Subject Leader Mrs C Hoddy
"With Christ in Our Hearts We Live Life to the Full."
INTENT
Through our music curriculum at St Anne’s, we want our pupils to develop a sense of curiosity and creativity through which they can explore and learn. We want our music lessons to inspire children and give them a creative outlet.
We believe that music has the potential to make a significant contribution to children’s development: increasing confidence and self-esteem, developing leadership, team working, concentration and problem-solving skills, and developing identity and improving social cohesion within the school and wider community. We endeavour to provide a variety of musical experiences through a curriculum which develops learning, improves knowledge and promotes pupil well-being through building up the confidence of all children. Music can impact the way that children feel, think and act; we want music to encourage the body and mind to work together, develop motor skills and allow self-expression.
As a result of our Music Curriculum our children are encouraged 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
- 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.
IMPLEMENTATION
Our music curriculum map outlines the areas studied by year groups through school.
Music curriculum map (link)
Programme of Study
Through a subscription to Charanga, KS1 staff have access to full planned schemes of work, as well as a library of varied resources to engage learners.
https://www.bradfordmusiconline.co.uk/
The learning journey is clear, beginning with listening to and appraising music,considering its genre, style and structure. Practical lessons follow, which include singing and playing instruments, as well as exploring improvisation and composition. Students are provided with many opportunities for performance, which encourages reflection and celebration of achievements.
In KS2 a peripatetic Music Teacher attends school to deliver weekly string lessons to pupils in Years 3 and 4 along with key musical curriculum skills.
Years 5 and 6 take part in weekly choral lessons run by the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme. These are delivered by an expert Choral Director from the Diocese, focusing on positive engagement with singing and supporting the Catholic life of the school through sacred music. The sessions offer practical and incremental coverage of areas of the music curriculum - including notation - in a two-year curriculum framework developed by the Diocese, the National Schools Singing Programme and the National Youth Choir of Scotland. Pupils also have the opportunity to join one of the Diocese's acclaimed after-school choirs. You can find online resources that support this work on the Schools Singing Programme's YouTube channel (www.schoolssingingprogramme.org.uk).
The above curriculum provides a coherent sequence of learning and coverage of the National Curriculum and key music skills needed for our learners to develop to their full potential.
Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme
As well as regular music lessons as part of weekly timetables, musical elements are embedded into lessons in other areas of the curriculum. As part of worship, children learn a variety of hymns and songs, which are practised and performed in school and at church. We run a choir that practises weekly, allowing performers an opportunity to collaborate and express themselves vocally. Significant dates in the school calendar are marked by musical performances, eg. Christmas, Easter, Year 6 performance, worship assemblies. This illustrates that music is an integral part of our school culture and that we recognise the benefits learning music can have.
Additionally, outside of their curriculum,musicians from the local area are invited in to perform for the children, allowing them to experience live music.
IMPACT
As a result of the music curriculum, children at St. Annes develop a love of music and increased understanding of the impact that music can have on their own and others’ lives.
- Children demonstrate progression of knowledge and skills which they continuously build on and embed.
- Through music, children develop the fundamental competencies of confidence, curiosity, collaboration, communication, creativity, commitment and craftsmanship.
- Children develop an understanding of culture and history in relation to themselves individually, their local music heritage and music from ethnicities from around the world.
- We monitor the impact of our curriculum through pupil voice exercises, pupil and parental surveys, and teaching and learning observations.