Music

music notes.jpg

Intent

Our balanced music curriculum at Manor Park Primary School enables the children to develop their musical creativity through practical and exploratory opportunities to develop as performers, song makers, composers, improvisers and listeners. Through deliberate practice, children become fluent in their knowledge of music. As they move through school, the children also develop an increasing understanding of the history of music, learning about music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians. Music promotes diversity and be used to express the children’s personal, emotional, social and cultural identity. Children not only learn about music but they will develop a love of music, becoming musicians who are able to share and perform using their new knowledge.

Implementation

To implement this, we provide a balanced curriculum that is sequenced appropriately in order to develop the skills required to develop their ability to understand and participate in music. The interrelated dimensions of music weave through musical units to encourage the development of musical skills as the learning progresses through listening and appraising, differing musical activities and performing. Music is taught weekly, so that children achieve depth in the learning. We use the National Curriculum objectives as a start for our planning in music. The web based primary music scheme Charanga, is used throughout the school as a basis for music teaching. It provides coverage of all the National Curriculum objectives and ensures progression in key skills. In this way, children are increasingly challenged as they move through school. This offers a variety of approaches, including topic-based work, instrument tuition and skills based work. We will encourage close links with our local community and sometimes further afield.

Impact

Our music curriculum is high quality, well thought out and is planned to demonstrate progression. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary progression also form part of the units of work.

We measure the impact of Music curriculum through the following methods;

· assessing children’s understanding before and after the unit is taught,

· images and videos of the children’s practical learning,

Each unit of music has an ongoing musical learning focus and a unit specific focus. Ongoing musical learning includes building on children’s prior knowledge to develop new knowledge about how they can improve their skills in listening and appraising, musical activities (games, singing, playing, improvising and composing, and performing. Unit specific knowledge focuses on musical skills and concepts that may be discrete to a particular style or styles of music relevant to the unit. During music lessons and through recalls, assessments are made focusing on the content and performance involving qualitative verbal feedback. Learning is digitally recorded when appropriate. In addition, low stakes quizzes give children the opportunity to demonstrate connected knowledge held in the long term memory but also identify any misconceptions which the children may have. These can then be addressed immediately.

The teaching of music is monitored through Lesson Observations, Pupil Voice and Learning Environment reviews. All monitoring is recorded and feedback is given to class teachers to ensure that teaching practice is supported and improved.

All of these measures help to monitor the curriculum and raise the aspirations of our children. This ensures our children will develop skills and attributes they can use beyond school and into adulthood.

Music

Let's Connect