Music – Intent, Implementation and Impact

Intent:

Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. As children progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon (The National Curriculum).

Music teaching at St Patrick’s Primary School aims to follow specifications of the National Curriculum; providing a broad and balanced curriculum and ensuring the progressive development of musical concepts, knowledge and skills. At St Patrick’s, we believe that music plays an integral role in helping children to feel part of a community, therefore we provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music both in class and to an audience. Through assemblies and key stage performances, children showcase their talent and their understanding of performing with awareness of others. Lessons enable children to develop their skills, appreciate a wide variety of music and begin to appraise a range of musical genres.

The aims of our Music curriculum are to develop children who:

• Enjoy and have an appreciation for music.
• Listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, cultures, styles and traditions.
• Can sing and use their voices to create different effects.
• Create and compose music, both on their own and with others.
• Use a range of musical language.
• Make judgements and express personal preferences about the quality and style of music.
• Take part in performances with an awareness of audience.

Implementation:

Music teaching at St Patrick’s delivers the requirements of the National Curriculum through use of the Music Express scheme of work. The twelve units are broken down into three-weekly music lessons.

Within the EYFS setting, Music is an integral part of the children’s learning journey. Rhyme and rhythm are utilised throughout the children’s learning, across all areas of the curriculum. Children learn a wide range of songs and rhymes and develop skills for performing together. Singing and music making opportunities are used frequently to embed learning, develop musical awareness and to demonstrate how music can be used to express feelings.

Children in Year 4 benefit from whole class specialist teaching, delivered by a member of NMPAT. These lessons allow children the opportunity to learn to play an instrument as part of an ensemble and to engender a love of music learning. Throughout the sessions the inter-related elements of music are developed.

Performance is at the heart of musical teaching and learning at St Patrick’s and children participate in a range of performances during their time at St Patrick’s. These include nativities (EYFS, KS1 and KS2), Easter performances (KS2) and a Leavers performance for Year 6. Children also take part in Harvest assemblies and singing assemblies. Children who are confident are encouraged to perform in solo performances. Parents are invited and welcomed to watch all of these performances whether at school or outside.

Alongside our curriculum provision for music, children also have the opportunity to participate in additional 1:1 music teaching by being offered the opportunity to learn a musical instrument with peripatetic teachers.

Children also have the opportunity to participate in the annual ‘VIAM’ concert. It is a popular choir with 40 – 50 children taking part each year. The children are enthused by the opportunity to learn a wide range of songs, to be performed alongside other schools at the Wembley Arena.

Impact:

Our Music curriculum is planned to demonstrate progression and build upon and embed current skills. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills in the different musical components and teaching of vocabulary also forms part of the units of work.

If children are achieving the knowledge and skills in the lessons, then they are considered to be making good or better progress.

We measure the impact of our curriculum through:

• Pupil discussions – pupil voice.
• Annual reporting and tracking of standards across the curriculum.
• Photo and video evidence of the children's practical learning.
• Use of assessment tools provided within the Music Express scheme.