Music

 

 

Curriculum intent

Our vision is to nurture, grow and build a passion in our children for music.  This will allow the children to express themselves creatively through performing, composing and experiencing music practically.  We offer pupils the opportunity to experience these things through various instruments, tasks and musical experiences.  In addition, our weekly singing assemblies value music and help to promote a love for this subject.

Through Music, by the end of Year 6 at Grange Community Junior School, children will:

  • Understand how to sing and play a range of instruments in solo and ensemble contexts, from a range of genres and periods in musical history.
  • Understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated through the dimensions of music and how this varies in a range of musical styles/genres.
  • Be able to describe the use of different dimensions of music within different pieces of music and justify why composers may have made these decisions
  • Understand how to compose and improvise and record their compositions through graphic notation and formal written notation.
  • Evaluate their own and their peer performances and use this information to improve their performances.
  • Experience a range of recorded and live music performances from a range of instrument families.

Implementation of the curriculum

The skills stated above are implemented in weekly 45 minute sessions by all class teachers. As a school we use Hampshire Music Service’s planning materials as a base and adapt them to meet the needs of our pupils and to give them new experiences.

The school has a range of musical instruments available for whole class teaching, notably tuned percussion and recorders. Many other instruments are currently retained by the school for demonstration and exploration.

All pupils will receive musical instruction weekly in singing assemblies, focussing on developing a love of music, vocal technique and rhythm and timing. Pupils are given opportunities to engage in extra-curricular music through peripatetic lessons in guitar, keyboard, Rock Steady, and the music subject leader also offers the opportunity to further develop children’s vocal technique and musical understanding by being a member of the choir. They have the opportunity to perform for an audience through Rock Steady concerts, keyboard concerts, choir engagements, Christmas Production and a Christingle service.

Classroom Organisation and Teaching

In order for children to be able to perform, compose, improvise, evaluate, listen and understand, lessons need to be sequenced so that the difficulty of the tasks build sequentially and children are able to recall their learning. As 2 or 3 dimensions of music are focussed on per topic, the children recall their understanding of these dimensions throughout each lesson. Their learning builds up to a performance of some kind to show what the children understand and have taken on board.

Each lesson should have a clear purpose and this should be evident to the children through the use of a WALT. The children should also be able to explain how this lesson fits with what they already know and where they want to be.

Impact of our curriculum

Through our music curriculum pupils are developing a love of music in various forms. This includes;

  • experiencing a varied diet of music; they hear a range of music from different periods in musical history and different genres, including live music.
  • having the opportunity to play instruments and develop their own understanding of how to compose and improvise and record their compositions through graphic notation and formal written notation.
  • having the opportunity to perform in front of fellow pupils, parents and visitors.

24 25 Music Development Plan GCJS   

 

How can parents help children learn music at home?

We would like to remind parents that you don’t need to be experts in curriculum subjects—encouraging curiosity and learning alongside your child is what matters most. Encourage your child to explore music in many different ways. This can be done from your own home and there are also many places you can visit to watch live music. The important thing for children in KS2, is that they can find music they enjoy to listen to and sing/play!

  • Allow your child to listen to music of different styles and genres at home on Spotify/Youtube/SoundCloud to allow them to explore different styles and decide the type of music they like.
  • Listen to music in different languages and from different countries at home.
  • Learn about the orchestra and musical dimensions on BBC Bitesize.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/zwxhfg8

  • Explore apps for music technology to create their own music that can be downloaded on many different platforms (e.g. Garage Band, Music4Kids, Incredibox, Music Street Academy, DoReMi 1- 2- 3-, Audacity and many more).
  • Music Mark pin points many home learning opportunities for music. https://www.musicmark.org.uk/resources/home-learning-resources/

Some live music venues you may wish to explore to see if there is an event you could take your child to:

Some clubs your child could join:

  • Join the school choir for free! On Thursdays 3:20-4:20pm.
  • Join Rock Steady or Guitar Lessons at school! Ask at the office for more details and prices.
  • Join ensembles through Hampshire Music Service.

https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/hampshiremusic/ensembles