Music

Intent

Music provides children with a unique opportunity to express their own feelings and covers the whole range of human experience. Through working practically with the raw materials of music, children develop skills of performing, composing, listening and appraising, developing knowledge and understanding of the subject as an expressible medium. 

We develop the skills, knowledge and understanding that pupils need in order to become confident performers, composers and listeners.  Our curriculum introduces pupils to music from around the world and across generations, teaching pupils to respect and appreciate the music of different traditions and communities.

Implementation

At St Mawes Primary we follow the Charanga Primary Music Scheme and we also work closely with the Cornwall Music Hub to ensure that our lessons are well-structured and stimulating. The Charanga scheme has an integrated, practical, exploratory and child-led approach to musical learning. Units of work enable children to understand musical concepts through a repetition-based approach to learning. Learning about the same musical concept through different musical activities enables a more secure, deeper learning and mastery of musical skills. Each unit has differentiated activities, enabling the teacher to assess and gauge when children are ready to progress and step up to the next level.

Each Unit of Work comprises the of strands of musical learning which correspond with the national curriculum for music:

1. Listening and Appraising
2. Musical Activities
   1. Warm-up Games
   2. Optional Flexible Games
   3. Singing
   4. Playing instruments
   5. Improvisation
   6. Composition
3. Performing

All activities are based around a song. 

1. Games embed the Interrelated Dimensions of Music through repetition
2. Singing is at the heart of all the musical learning
3. Playing instruments with the song to be learnt - tuned/un-tuned classroom percussion and an option to play any band instrument. A sound-before-symbol approach is used but scores are provided as an understanding of notation is introduced to the children
4. Improvising with the song using voices and instruments occurs in some Units of Work
5. Composing with the song using instruments occurs in some Units of Work

We encourage children to learn a musical instrument through ( our links with outside agencies (these are private lessons). Please contact us to find out what instruments are currently on offer.

Impact

Children will:

• Be confident performers, composers and listeners and will be able to express themselves musically at and beyond school
• Express their thoughts, opinions and preferences about music and share their personal preferences about the quality and styles
• Understand how music is influenced by the wider cultural, social and historical contexts in which it is developed
• Learn how to create and compose music both individually and collaboratively.
• Develop an ability to understand rhythm, structure and organisation and use this vocabulary confidently
• Meet the end of key stage expectations outlined in the National Curriculum for Music