Holy Innocents' Catholic Primary School

Music

Music is a very important part of the Curriculum here at Holy Innocents' Catholic Primary School.

We have a dedicated music teacher, Mrs. Roz Walter,  who teaches each class once a week. In addition to this we have a School Choir which meets during lunchtimes and regularly performs at events throughout the year.

Pupils are given opportunities to learn an instrument during class music lessons including xylophone, Djembe and recorder.

We also have 'Rocksteady' which is a music club for all ages, giving children the opportunity to form their own 'Rock' bands playing instruments such as electric guitar, drum and keyboard.

In addition to this, we have a range of instrumental teaches who visit the school throughout the week teaching pupils a range of instruments including; piano, violin, flute, guitar and many others.

 

 

Music at Holy Innocents’ Catholic Primary School

Intent, implementation and impact

Intent

As a school, we believe that music is a vital area of children’s education and is an important part of their entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum. 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 people. Music reflects the culture and society we live in, 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. We provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music, to develop the skills, to appreciate a wide variety of musical forms, and to begin to make judgements about the quality of music.

Aims

The National Curriculum for Music aims to ensure that all pupils:

  • know and understand how sounds are made and then organized 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 appreciating music.

 

 Curriculum Implementation

Children learn in Music through first-hand experiences. During Music lessons, children will be active through performing, composing, listening and responding. Whilst there will be an explicit learning objective for every lesson, many additional skills will be developed as a result of children’s active participation in the sessions.

Our medium and long term planning maps out the Music curriculum for each year group. The Music Coordinator then develops weekly plans which give specific detail of learning objectives alongside appropriate, differentiated activities.

In KS1`and KS2, Music is delivered by the Music Coordinator to each class for approximately 50 minutes per week. Music may also be used by class teachers as a cross-curricular tool to support learning in other subject areas.

Music curriculum planning

Our school uses a combination of the Kapow Primary scheme of work as well as BBC Ten Pieces as the basis for its curriculum planning. This has been adapted so that the topics build upon prior learning and are enhanced by the subject leader’s knowledge and experience. Each unit specializes in one of the musical elements and develops the children’s listening, appraising and composing skills. While there are opportunities for children of all abilities to develop their skills and knowledge in each unit, the progression planned into the scheme of work means that the children are increasingly challenged as they move through the school.

 

The Early Years Foundation Stage

We teach music to both pre-school and reception classes once a week. The focus for pre-school is on teaching basic skills and singing. Reception lessons are usually linked to the Kapow scheme of work. However, Music is also an integral part of the topic work covered during the year. As the pre-school/reception class is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum, 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 foster a child’s mathematical ability, and songs from different cultures increase a child’s knowledge and understanding of the world.

Extra curricular Opportunities

Children are offered the opportunity to study a musical instrument with peripatetic teachers. Peripatetic music teaching is provided by Bromley Borough Music Service. Parents who want their children to participate in the scheme must purchase or hire the instrument and pay the additional music lesson fees on a termly basis. These lessons are normally taught to small groups of children who have chosen to learn one of a variety of instruments, such as the guitar and flute and piano. This is in addition to the normal music teaching of the school, but usually takes place during curriculum time.

The school choir 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 a school choir which we encourage all children from Y3-6 to join. The choir meets on a weekly basis and, although its primary aim is to enable children to enjoy singing together, it also performs at school events on a number of occasions throughout the year.

Curriculum Impact

Children demonstrate their ability in music in a variety of different ways. The Music teacher will assess children’s work in music by making informal judgements through observations during lessons. On completion of a piece of work, the teacher assesses the work and gives oral as necessary to inform future progress. Older pupils are encouraged to make judgements about how they can improve their own work. At the end of a unit of work, the teacher makes a summary judgement about the work of each pupil in relation to the National Curriculum. We use this as the basis for assessing the progress of each child and year group as a whole.

Music and Religion

Music plays a major role in the ethos of a Catholic school. It plays a vital part in developing a child’s relationship with God and the Church and provides them with another channel through which to praise God or to reflect. All children attend a weekly singing practice and sing hymns throughout the year during assemblies and mass.

Resources

We keep resources for music in the music room.

Roles and Responsibilities

The subject is led by the Music teacher as a whole and each year time is set aside to review standards and monitor curriculum provision and ensure training and resources are up to date.