At St George’s we believe music is a unique way of communicating that can inspire and motivate children. It is a vehicle for personal expression, and it can play an important part in the personal development of individuals and groups of people. Music reflects culture and society, and so the teaching and learning of music enables children to better understand the world they live in. Besides being a creative and enjoyable activity, music can also be a highly academic and demanding subject. It also plays an important part in helping children feel part of a community.
This vision of music is what our curriculum at St George’s is built around. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical genres, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.
The objectives of teaching music in our school are to enable children to:
This vision of music is what our curriculum at St George’s is built around. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical genres, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.
The objectives of teaching music in our school are to enable children to:
- know and understand how sounds are made and then organised into musical structures;
- know how music is made through a variety of instruments;
- know how music is composed and written down;
- know how music is influenced by the time, place and purpose for which it was written;
- develop the interrelated skills of performing, composing and appraising music
Aims
The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:
- 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.
Key Stage 1
Pupils should be taught to:
use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
play tuned and untuned instruments musically
listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
Key Stage 2
Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
Pupils should be taught to:
- play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
- improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music
- listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
- use and understand staff and other musical notations
- appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
- develop an understanding of the history of music.
The Early Years Foundation Stage
We teach music in EYFS as an integral part of the topic work covered during the year and we also teach music in dedicated lessons that are aimed at giving our foundation stage children a taste of the interrelated skills that they will explore as they progress through the school. We relate the musical aspects of the children’s work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals (ELGs) which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five. Music contributes to a child’s personal and social development. Counting songs and rhythms foster a child’s mathematical ability, and songs from different cultures increase a child’s knowledge and understanding of the world.
At St George’s we make music an enjoyable learning experience. We encourage children to participate in a variety of musical experiences through which we aim to build up the confidence of all children. Singing lies at the heart of good music teaching. Our teaching focuses on developing the children’s ability to sing in tune and with other people. Through singing songs, children learn about the structure and organisation of music. We teach them to listen to and appreciate different forms of music. As children get older, we expect them to maintain their concentration for longer, and to listen to more extended pieces of music. Children develop descriptive skills in music lessons when learning about how music can represent feelings and emotions. We teach children to make music together, to understand musical notation, and to compose pieces. Our music lessons aim towards teaching the children to be able to perform and compose and appraise as part of an ensemble.
Music curriculum planning
Our school uses Charanga as the basis for its curriculum planning sublimented by BBC Ten Pieces. We also use resources from SingUp. While there are opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each teaching unit, the progression planned into the scheme of work means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school.
The School Choir, Music Lessons and Musical Events
We believe that music enriches the lives of people, and so we wish to involve as many children as possible in musical activities. We have strong choir where children learn to sing and perform through a variety of songs and games. The choir is led by our Music Subject Lead and each year they perform during our Church Services, Music Concerts and school celebration events. They have also performed at various events out of school including the Bath Christmas Market and for the Bourton Village lunches.
We provide opportunities throughout the year for budding musicians to perform for the school community. This includes solo and ensemble performances as part of assemblies and concerts. This recognises their achievements and celebrates their success. During our Winter Concert our beginner Musicians play for the school, parents and villagers. Our Spring Concert sees our more advanced musicians take to the stage along with parents, music teachers, villagers, staff and governors for an evening of musical enjoyment.
Children have the opportunity to learn guitar, piano, recorder, brass, string or woodwind instrument through Peripatetic teachers.
There are opportunities for children play in concerts and musical groups, and join the choir run by our music teacher throughout the year.