Intent
At Hutton Henry, we recognise that music surrounds children’s everyday lives through television, radio, computer games and shopping centres. We want to build upon their experiences and use music to promote their self- confidence, creativity, their sense of achievement and an opportunity to work together. We believe that high quality music education should engage and inspire all children to develop their love of music and their talent as musicians. We aim to foster our children’s enthusiasm for the subject, while also giving them the skills, knowledge and understanding necessary to support their continued musical journey in and beyond the primary school.
We appreciate that there is a strong link between music and other areas of learning. Learning to sing helps develop the physical skills of the child and help with language development, co-ordination and breathing techniques. It helps support the development of communication skills and effective teamwork and offers a sense of achievement and confidence.
Our chosen scheme ,Sing Up Music ,is designed and written by subject specialists. It sets out the skills, knowledge, and understanding to be gained by all pupils at each stage of learning, including the Early Years Foundation Stage.
Implementation
Our chosen music scheme, Sing Up, supports all of the requirements of the National Curriculum for Music, uses suggested approaches of the Model Music Curriculum, as well as the Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage and Music Development Matters. It gives children access to a wide range of musical concepts and experiences. Staff use the scheme and their own professional judgment to create stimulating and engaging lessons for our children.
Children in Years 3 to 6 are offered the opportunity to play a stringed instrument. This tuition is delivered by a peripatetic music teacher. All children in school learn how to play a selection of instruments including steel pans, melodicas and ukuleles . These instruments are revisited frequently through each year group for a childs time in school.
By the end of Key Stage 2 the children will have had opportunities to play and perform using their voices and musical instruments with increased accuracy, fluency, control and expression. They will be to improvise and compose music for a range of purposes and use staff and musical notation accurately. Opportunities to listen to a range of music from different traditions, genres and from the great composers and musicians. Through these opportunities the children will begin to develop and understanding of musical history.
There is a “singing in praise” collective worship every week. They are led by a teacher, who is a non-specialist, and are an opportunity for the children to learn and perform a range of songs for enjoyment.
Impact
Children will:
- enjoy and appreciate a wide variety of musical styles;
- explore how sounds are made, and how music is produced by a variety of instruments;
- develop imagination and creativity;
- build a sense of pulse and rhythm;
- understand a range of musical vocabulary;
- develop the interrelated skills of composition, improvisation, performance and appreciation;
- enjoy a wide range of songs and sing in tune;
- develop positive attitudes and to experience success and satisfaction in music.
Children demonstrate their ability in music in a variety of different ways. Teachers will assess children’s work in music by making informal judgements as they observe them during lessons. Older and more able pupils are encouraged to make judgements about how they can improve their own work. Each term, the teacher makes a judgement as to whether each child is working at the expected standard for their year group. The collecting of evidence to demonstrate pupil progress is written into each year group’s units of work for all of KS1 and KS2. A progression snapshot activity occurs within a unit at three points during the year – September, February, and June.
