Music

At Badby Primary, our aim is to provide a music curriculum that will encourage children to develop a lifelong love of music through the enjoyment of singing, composition, performances and appreciation of music across different times and cultures. 

“Music is all around us. It is the soundtrack to our lives. Music connects us through people and places in our ever-changing world. It is creative, collaborative, celebratory and challenging. In our schools, music can bring communities together through the shared endeavour of whole-school singing, ensemble playing, experimenting with the creative process and, through the love of listening to friends and fellow pupils, performing. The sheer joy of music making can feed the soul of a school community, enriching each student while strengthening the shared bonds of support and trust which make a great school.” (DfE, The Model Music Curriculum: Key Stages 1 and 2).

Guidance from the Model Music curriculum together with Dimensions and Kapow curriculum units enable children to experience and progress towards the National Curriculum aims:

• 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. (National Curriculum in England: music programme of study)

Through a combination of the Dimensions and Kapow curriculum, children will have the opportunity to feel inspired by past and present musicians, including the opportunity to watch and study performances live, which may lead to their own musical achievements. Our curriculum exposes children to music from around the world and across generations, teaching children to respect and appreciate the music of all traditions and communities.

Our main school aims are:

• In Music, pupils learn to listen carefully, fine-tuning  their auditory skills and developing their ability to evaluate and appraise.
• Music increases pupils’ confidence through self-expression and performance, as well as providing a sense of achievement and team spirit.
• Music helps pupils to appreciate and understand a wide range of traditions and cultures.
• Music provides pupils with the opportunity to use technology and instruments appropriately, to enhance and communicate their own compositions and performances.
• Pupils learn how music is created, produced and communicated, through the elements e.g. the interrelated dimensions of music.

We aim to ensure that Music is taught as part of cross curricular topics and learning takes place inside and outside of the classroom. We value how music can help inspire enthusiasm for learning, support well-being as well as develop other skills, such as - problem solving, confidence building, teamwork, concentration and creativity. 

How is Music Taught?

Music is taught through thematic units, both through Skills Development Tasks and through learning which then apply those skills. Kapow Primary Music builds upon these skills, allowing pupils to explore a wider range of musical knowledge and skills.

The Dimension Satellite View maps out which thematic units feature Music and clearly shows the objectives taught, as well as vocabulary, knowledge and skills progression throughout EYFS, KS1 and KS2. Music is taught through a combination of subject knowledge and composing, performing, listening and appraising skills. The knowledge building blocks that are revisited throughout the curriculum are:

• Instrumentation,
• Notation,
• Cultural Understanding,
• Inter-related dimensions of Music,
• Singing,
• Listening and appraising with musical vocabulary.

 

A Spiral Curriculum

Kapow scheme has been designed as a spiral curriculum with the following key principles in mind...

Cyclical: 

Pupils return to the same skills and knowledge again and again during their time in primary school.

Increasing depth: 

Each time a skill or area of knowledge is revisited it is covered with greater depth.

Prior knowledge: 

Upon returning to a skill, prior knowledge is utilised so pupils can build upon previous foundations, rather than starting again.

 

Who and what do we learn about in Music?

The children learn about a range of famous composers from history, such as J.S. Bach, Ludwig Van Beethoven and Rimsky-Korsakov. We also learn about more contemporary song-writers, such as Leona Lewis and Elton John. Below are a selection of topics and skills the children learn and explore throughout the children’s time at Badby school:

• Notation
• Graphic scores
• Signs and symbols
• Soundscapes
• Sound effects
• Sea shanties
• Folk songs
• National anthems
• Slave songs
• Battle chants
• War songs
• Cyclic patterns
• Instrument families
• Evolution of instruments
• African music, including drumming
• Celtic music
• Hannukah music
• Jingles
• Film music
• Musicals
• Inuit throat singing

Early Years

Music in the Early Years Foundation Stage is important and interweaves through all areas of learning and development.  It can support children’s development in many ways such as singing songs and rhymes to develop communication and language skills, help children express their feelings, develop positive relationships with others through group performances and support the development of gross and fine motor skills. The most relevant statements for music are taken from the following areas of learning in the EYFS Framework: 

• Communication and Language 
• Physical Development 
• Expressive Arts and Design

Teachers accommodate the needs of pupils by altering music lessons, if and when required. This may include:

• Help in managing the written communication aspects of music (such as symbols) by using larger print, colour codes, a greater emphasis on aural memory skills, etc.
• Encouragement to use their voices expressively and to use different forms of communication, such as gesture if necessary.
• Opportunities to learn about music through physical contact with an instrument and/or sound source.
• Provide alternative sound sources and resources if necessary, such as the use of ICT.

At Badby Primary, we aim to ensure children are provided with the opportunity to perform to an audience regularly, sharing and celebrating skills developed. We work closely with other schools and organisations in the locality including, Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust (NMPAT) to plan and organise group performances and provide opportunities for the pupils to explore creating music using tuned instruments.

The impact of the Dimensions and Kapow curriculum can be constantly monitored through assessment opportunities. Each unit of music has an ongoing musical learning focus and a unit specific focus. Ongoing musical learning includes building on children’s prior knowledge to develop and secure new knowledge and skills.

Unit specific knowledge focusses on musical skills and concepts that may be discrete to a particular style or styles of music relevant to the unit.

Teachers assess children’s knowledge, understanding and skills in Music by making observations within class and by analysis of any written evidence. As part of our assessment for learning process, children will receive both verbal and written feedback as a means of development. At the end of a core topic, children create a double page spread or contribute to a floor book to showcase what they have learnt. New vocabulary should clearly stand out. Pupils also complete quizzes throughout the unit. Quizzes give children the opportunity to demonstrate connected knowledge held in the long term memory but also identify any misconceptions which the children may have. These can then be addressed immediately.

We use a multi-faceted approach to assessment:

• Quizzes built within every unit to share existing knowledge. 
• Assessment for learning is used within each lesson through skilful use of questioning and live feedback. 
• Pupil voice to support the evidence that pupils know and remember more over time. 
• Double page spreads and floorbooks facilitate pupils to independently apply appropriate substantive and disciplinary knowledge, with a particular focus on the inter-related dimensions of music.
• Performances are digitally recorded at least twice during a unit of work so progression can be reviewed and celebrated.

After the implementation of the Kapow and Dimensions curriculum, most pupils leave primary school meeting the National Curriculum end of key stage expectations, equipped with a range of experiences, skills and knowledge to enable them to enjoy and appreciate music throughout their lives.

The expected impact is:

• Pupils listen carefully, fine-tuning their auditory skills and developing their ability to evaluate and appraise.
• Pupils’ confidence has increased through self-expression and performance, as well as providing a sense of achievement and team spirit.
• Pupils appreciate and understand a wide range of traditions and cultures.
• Children are provided with the opportunity to use technology and instruments appropriately, to enhance and communicate their own compositions and performances.
• Pupils learn how music is created, produced and communicated, through the elements e.g. the interrelated dimensions of music.