Music

Intent

At St Bon’s we believe music is an important, essential and valuable part of the curriculum.  We work in close partnership with and are supported by the award-winning Bristol Beacon team and Sing up. The knowledge and skills taught in Music are set out in The National Curriculum (Department for Education, 2014) and supported by The Model Music Curriculum (Department for Education, 2021). Some of the topics covered develop strong links with local culture and history as well as engaging with traditions.

We follow a year group based sequence in order to allow for progression which enables each individual child extend and deepen their musical experience. The different units within the curriculum develop the pupils singing, performing, composing and listening skills.

We aim to engage and excite children to develop a love and appreciation for music. The scheme enables them to become fantastic musicians offering opportunities to experience a range of different musical genres, styles and everyday sounds.

Through topic-based activities we aim to develop vital skills in listening and creative enquiry to help nurture each pupil’s learning potential.

Through singing and playing instruments we encourage maximum participation, allowing for enjoyment and enthusiasm to become embedded in each child’s experiences as well as opportunities to explore composition and performance which improves confidence and working collaboratively with others.

As well as classroom lessons children are also given an opportunity to have formal lessons in piano, guitar, brass, violin in small groups or individual delivered by music specialists.  Y2-5 have whole class recorder lessons delivered by the teachers.

 

Implementation

This is embedded in the classroom activities as well as the singing in assemblies, various concerts and performances. It is delivered by Music teachers in our school as well as class teachers.

The Sing Up scheme is taught as a one-year programme with a scheme of work for each year group organised into 3 and 6 week block ensuring pupils have regular music lessons throughout the year, covering a broad and diverse range of repertoire, approaches, and musical traditions, Sing Up Music supports a fully-integrated approach to musical development, connecting the interrelated strands of singing, playing, improvising, composing, listening, and appraising.

 

In Key Stage 1 pupils will:

  • Learn a wide range of songs, chants and rhymes to sing together.
  • Play tuned and untuned instruments musically, developing turn taking and rhythm.
  • Through story and listening to music develop understanding of the musical experiences.
  • Opportunities for improvisation and composition.
  • Learn 3 notes on recorder and read simple musical notation.

In Key Stage 2 pupils will:

  • Learn a wide range of songs singing as one group and in parts.
  • Continue to learn recorder up to the full range of notes to enable; ensemble, solo and duet performances
  • Learn to read music and understand musical notation.
  • Play both tuned and untuned percussion instruments.
  • Play and perform in different contexts to develop their musical experiences.
  • Improvise and compose music for different purposes.
  • Develop an understanding of local musical history and traditions.
  • Listen to and develop an appreciation and understanding of a wide range of music form different genres, styles and

 

Impact

We evaluate the impact of our Music curriculum in the number of ways;

Pupil achievement and progress is measured by

  •          Knowledge organised for yrs 1-6.
  •          Teachers’ informal assessments based on questioning, observations and pupil outcomes.
  •          Teachers record progress through video and performances.
  •          Pupils take part in regular performances and class assemblies to show learning outcomes.
  •          Learning walks
  •          Y6 pupils are upskilled to take part in whole class wind band.
  •          Engagement with extra-curricular opportunities and during performance opportunities.