Music

Subject Leader - Mr T. Orbell

Curriculum Intent

Our Music curriculum is designed with the intent that all children will become a competent musician, inquisitive about the world around them. We intend to instil in children a love of music and a desire to explore the rich and diverse styles and genres that exist, both in contemporary and classical music. We aim to equip pupils with knowledge about the origins of music and the cultures that inspired it and to better understand how to express their own personal preferences. It is our goal that children leave the school having been exposed to as broad a range of musical styles and pieces as possible and having been given the opportunity to explore their own musical potential through performing a wide range of instruments, through singing and through creating their own music. It is important to us that children develop their cultural capital through the breadth of experiences given at school, through the curriculum and through the extra-curricular activities offered, including collective worship and assembly times. Children at Pheasey will gain the ability to make reasoned choices about their own musical journeys and be able to explain their own personal musical responses.

Implementation

To ensure high standards of teaching and learning in Music, we implement a curriculum that is progressive throughout the whole school. We ensure that Music has the same importance given to it as the core subjects, as we feel this is important in enabling all children to develop their individual preferences and embark upon their own musical journey. To ensure that children achieve the most from their music lessons, we have built a curriculum that develops knowledge, understanding, experiences and skills progressively. Music is taught in weekly sessions that last around 30 minutes from Year 1 to Year 6, which is planned for by the music co-ordinator to ensure all curriculum objectives are covered. This approach directly coincides with Ofsted’s inspection framework which states: “People learn new knowledge when new concepts are connected in their minds with what they have already learned. It is more appropriate, therefore, to understand the way knowledge is stored as a complex, interconnected web or ‘schema’. Every time a pupil encounters a word they have previously learned, but applied in a new context, it adds to the complexity of their understanding of that concept. In other words, they develop a deeper understanding of that concept and enhance their capacity to use that concept in their own thinking.” Some children may require extra support in the classroom and opportunities for consolidation and reinforcement. Music lessons are designed so that children work collaboratively, supporting one another and sharing ideas, opinions, skills and understanding together. Together, they improvise and compose using instruments and cover all of the inter-related dimensions of music through their appraisal work, which encompasses a range of genres, styles and composers. Alongside this, children are also given the historical and sociological context of different genres and build upon their knowledge of staff notation by developing their knowledge of signs and symbols and their experiences of relating this to instruments and voice. Music lessons are taught by teachers with specialist musical knowledge and understanding in order to better support pupils with their learning. All of this is supplemented through music assemblies as part of the school’s collective worship, whereby children continue to develop their understanding of the musical world in all of its rich diversity.

Impact

Our Music curriculum is designed to ensure that pupils’ musical knowledge and skills are embedded throughout their time at our school. The progression of knowledge and skills document provides clear targets for pupils at each stage of their learning which enables teachers to provide learning opportunities at the appropriate level. The impact of our Music curriculum will be measured through teacher assessment, school leader monitoring and subject leader monitoring. Video recordings will evidence a broad and balanced Music curriculum and demonstrate children’s acquisition of identified key skills. Teachers will assess children’s learning at the beginning and throughout each Music lesson through questioning and discussion. Teachers will use these assessments to inform and adapt their lessons of further Music knowledge and skills and to address any misconceptions. Children’s attainment will be considered and recorded termly to identify whether they are working below, at or above the expected level. Teachers will use a range of sources such video recordings, questioning and planning when making these judgements. There will also be opportunities for moderation sessions across the school and the Trust to ensure accuracy of these judgements. At the end of each academic year, these assessments will be passed on to the following year group’s staff to ensure that future planning of learning opportunities is pitched appropriately. As children progress throughout the school, they will deepen their understanding of the inter-related dimensions of music.  They will be able to explore their own musical preferences and develop their own cultural capital by exploring new and old musical traditions, as well as being able to make informed choices about the directions in which to take their own musical learning, be that in the fields of composing, performing or technical understanding. Children will be equipped with musical skills and knowledge that will enable them to be ready for secondary education, for life as an adult in the wider world and for a range of future careers of a musical nature.