Music At Redhill 

Intent

Our intent is to give all children the opportunity to understand, perform and create music, developing a lifelong love of music. Children will develop their knowledge of the interrelated dimensions of music and develop their ability when performing, listening, improvising and composing music by considering the quality of the music they produce. Our intent is for pupils to perform the work of other; explore their own creativity though composing work and through wider listening and engagement come to a broader understanding of musical culture and meaning. The music curriculum reflects the diversity that we value as children listen to music from around the world, from different periods of history and appreciate the music of all traditions. Through the diversity of our music curriculum, the children will embed our Redhill Values of respect, friendship, responsibility, empathy, honesty and independence.

Implementation

Curriculum and progression

Our teaching ensures that children learn how to sing fluently and expressively and play tuned and untuned instruments with technical accuracy. They understand and apply their knowledge of the interrelated dimensions of music-pitch, duration, tempo, timbre, structure, texture and dynamics when listening to music, singing, improvising and composing. We provide purposeful opportunities for children to perform and showcase their music making. Our music curriculum allows children to develop musically across the three pillars.

• First pillar-‘technical’ development necessary for pupils to translate their intentions successfully into sound-instrumental playing, singing or music technology.
• Second pillar-‘constructive’ pillar. Knowledge of how musical components come together both analytically and in the creative process.
• Third pillar- ‘expressive’ pillar is focused on the more indefinable aspects of music: quality, meaning and creativity.

These three elements are interdependent.

Pedagogy

The music curriculum is carefully sequenced to enable content to be mastered in the time available. Children will:

• 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.

Our progression of the elements of music is carefully sequenced. There are plentiful opportunities for pupils to return to and consolidate their short-term learning, with repetition of key curricular content and the gradual introduction of new ideas, methods and concepts. Expectations are realistic to ensure that knowledge is stored and secure.

• In EYFS and KS1 the aim is to focus on singing, feeling the beat/pulse and developing simple ideas around pitch and dynamics. They will have the opportunity to play untuned percussion instruments developing an understanding of how sound is made and the sound quality or timbre of an instrument.
• In KS2 children will begin to develop an understanding of staff notation for rhythm and pitch. Singing will still have a high priority considering the quality of the sound produced and developing expressive elements. There will be an increased focus on aural memory, improvising and composing.
• All phases have opportunities to develop listening using the interrelated dimensions of music through music lessons and singing assembly.

Music is taught in weekly sessions for 30 minutes or half-termly in one hour weekly sessions. Lessons include a range of teaching strategies including teacher modelling, whole class music making, group work, paired and independent tasks. Teachers are supported by coaching and CPD led by the subject lead.

Music lessons are supported by fortnightly music assemblies, whole class instrumental tuition for Years 4 and 5 and recorder lessons in Year 3. Whole class instrumental tuition is for a 10-week block with the opportunity to continue lessons with the music service teachers. Free tuition is available for children in receipt of free school meals.

Assessment

Formative assessment is most useful during lessons to provide immediate feedback to children to support learning and progress. Recordings and play back of music activities also supports assessment and evaluations. Children are encouraged to bring their music experiences outside school into the classroom. This could be by bringing their own instrument into musical lessons to support composition and improvisation.

Culture

We endeavour to develop children’s lifelong love of music in our children. The enhanced curriculum involves extra-curricular clubs including choir, musical theatre and instrumental tuition. Carefully planned visits enable children to experience live music-making such as the Welsh National opera at the Birmingham Hippodrome, performances by sixth form music students and performances by the peripatetic music teachers. The children can take part in larger performances including Young Voices for the choir and the Oakengates recorder festival which provides them with the opportunity to perform for a larger audience in real auditoriums.

Please see our Music Development Plan for further details about our provision in music link please click here.

Impact

By the end of Key Stage 2 children will:

• meet standards in performing, listening, improvising and composing music at least in line with the end of KS2 expectations.
• be ready to access the KS3 music curriculum
• use their knowledge of the interrelated dimensions of music to develop their own performance and compositions.
• understand how music can be written down and use this knowledge when performing and composing.
• be able to read notes using stave notation and have technical competence to perform from notation.
• have a deeper understanding of the history of music and musical culture.
• have a developing musical vocabulary at least in line with KS2 expectations
• be confident to talk about known composers and pieces of music they have listened to.

Young Voices 2020