Music at Sowerby

Intent

• Whilst at Sowerby Primary, every child has the opportunity to engage in creative musical activities, perform to an audience, be entertained, surprised and inspired by music.
• We believe that music should be an enjoyable experience for both the children and teachers. Our music curriculum aims to provide all pupils with a high-quality music education which engages and inspires them to develop a life-long love of music, increases their self-confidence, creativity and imagination, and provides opportunities for self-expression and a sense of personal achievement.
• Music at Sowerby is an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. We believe that all children, no matter their backgrounds or circumstances, can make, perform and enjoy music.
• Music is an excellent way for children to express themselves and be creative with their learning, and it gives equal opportunity for all pupils to succeed.

Alongside the National Curriculum, we aim 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.
• appreciate and are exposed to different genres and styles of music from around the world
• develop an understand of the history of music and the impact it has had

Implementation

EYFS:

Music plays a vital role in the development of young children in the EYFS, contributing to their learning and well-being in numerous ways. It's not just about singing nursery rhymes and banging on drums; it's a holistic experience that nourishes their minds, bodies, and souls.

The EYFS framework recognises the importance of music and includes it as an integral part of the curriculum.

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Music fosters collaboration, teamwork, and empathy as children play and create together. It also provides a safe space for expressing emotions and building self-confidence.
• Communication and Language: Music enriches vocabulary, develops listening skills, and promotes storytelling and language development skills through singing songs and rhymes.
• Physical Development: Dancing and moving to music encourages movement, coordination, and healthy body awareness and improves gross and fine motor skills, coordination, and spatial awareness.
• Literacy: Music provides a foundation for understanding rhythm, rhyme, and patterns, which are essential for reading and writing.
• Mathematics: Music introduces concepts like counting, number recognition, and patterns, laying the groundwork for early math skills.
• Understanding the World: Music exposes children to different cultures and traditions, fostering understanding and appreciation for diversity.
• Expressive Arts and Design: Music ignites imagination and creativity as children explore sounds, rhythms, and melodies.

Key Stage 1 and 2:

To achieve high quality music lessons and coverage of the National Curriculum, Music is taught as a separate subject. Units from the world-leading music teaching and learning scheme Charanga, have been tailored to fit alongside our wider curriculum to help promote familiarity, progression and achievement within music. The interrelated dimensions of music weaved through our music units encourage the development of musical skills as the learning progresses through listening and appraising, differing musical activities, including creating and exploring, and performing.

In each lesson, pupils have the chance to develop their talents in all aspects of music including rhythm work, technical vocabulary, instrumental skills, composition, singing and appreciation of music from different cultures and eras. Experiencing music in different contexts, such as live, recorded and composing music using technology, children are given the chance to foster a lifelong passion for music, as well as develop their musical expertise.

Through its relevant links to other areas of our curriculum, music can also be used as a tool to support in other areas of learning. For example, songs and rhymes to help remember number facts, performance poetry in English, studying the music of other cultures as part of Geography and RE and responding to movement and dance in PE all incorporate different elements of music.

Performances, such as year group plays, nativities and end of year shows, demonstrate that music is important to the life of the school. Extracurricular activities, such as Key Stage 2 choir, KS1 recorder club and extracurricular music lessons such as drums, piano and 

Rocksteady band, also provide children with experience of making music. Music plays an important role in helping children to feel part of a community, so we organise and collaborate these ventures to enable children to share their musical skills at different events outside of school too. These include the Young Voices concerts and festivals, celebrations and performances at the local church and retirement homes and band performances to parents and carers. The school also works with Music for Life, providing a whole school concert and targeted musical workshops for smaller groups once a year. This gives children an opportunity to work with professional musicians from a range of musical backgrounds.

If home learning is required, children can continue with their learning at home through Yumu, the home learning area of Charanga.

Assessment opportunities are identified in each unit of work. Teachers and pupils use iPads and the Charanga programme to record and upload performances that as well as being used as a tool to review, appraise and improve performances, will also be used in making assessment judgements. Each year group also has a music floor book. These floor books are used by teachers and children to record new vocabulary and notations, group compositions, appraisals of music and any new knowledge they have acquired during a particular unit. These floor books can be a great assessment tool at the end of a term. They are also a great tool to use at the beginning of new musical learning, as a reflection and revision tool. These books will progress with the students as they move through school. Musical learning is an ever-increasing spiral; with each new unit and year, the children are building upon the foundation of their work before and are adding new dimensions as they progress.