Music Subject Leader: Mrs J Dorrian
Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them – a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music. – Gerald R. Ford
At Sutton-At-Hone C of E Primary School, our vision is that Music is fully embedded in every aspect of school life and our aspiration is that every child adopts a lifelong love of music.
Intent
All children have access to music regardless of their academic ability, race, ethnicity, background, and language. SEND pupils are actively encouraged to participate fully as music is often an area of the curriculum which allows them to excel. We aim to provide children with the opportunity to progress to the next level of their creative excellence. Through the teaching of Music, we promote our Christian values by demonstrating Perseverance when achieving our personal best and Community when performing together within the school and local venues.
Implementation
Music is taught from YR-Y6 and covers the 6 areas of the curriculum: singing, playing, improvising, composing, listening and SMSC. Sutton-At-Hone have teachers and support staff that can deliver their own lessons and use resources from ‘sing up’ , ‘Music Express’, ‘Espresso’, ‘Oak Academy’ and ‘Sparkyard’. The children participate in singing, tuned and untuned percussion work, composition, and listening to live and recorded music. All children are taught the skills to be able to compose using musical instruments. When the children are ready, musical notation is taught and children are taught correct musical terminology e.g., rhythm, melody, pitch, dynamics. It is our aspiration that all children will be able to read and understand music notation, including graphic notation by the time they leave Sutton-At-Hone Primary School. Children have the opportunity to learn songs in different languages, celebrating the different cultures within the school. We also welcome visitors into school whenever possible so the children can listen to live music from all cultures.
Singing is highly important part of our day. Children sing every day during our Collective Worships where hymns and songs around festivals are taught and sung during the year. KS1 perform a Nativity at Christmas time and Year 6 take part in the end of year production where they have a chance to shine in singing and dancing!
We have a KS2 school choir with 40 members ranging from Year 3-6. They meet each week as an after-school club and are very dedicated and keen to perform at events in and outside of school. The choir have sung at Young Voices at the 02 Arena and at the Woodville Halls for the Trust concert. They have also sung in the community at a local care home for the elderly and Christmas concerts at the Mick Jagger Centre with Dartford Symphony Orchestra. They will continue to be part of these events again this year. We have also recently started a KS1 choir of 30 members.
Impact
Throughout the child’s journey at Sutton-At -Hone, their musical skills and understanding are built year on year, from singing nursery rhymes and action songs from memory and performing simple rhythm patterns on tuned and untuned percussion instruments in Early Years, progressing their skills and understanding in KS1 where they also experience whole class instrumental tuition on ocarinas. KS2 experience whole class tuition in recorders, further developing their skills and knowledge of the subject, where the children access music confidently, and have the ability to read and follow a simple musical score. Throughout all this, the child’s enjoyment of music is a key element, running alongside the ‘taught’ musical skills and objectives.
Music in Each Stage
During Key Stage One, throughout the music curriculum pupils will:
- Use their voices expressively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes.
- Play tuned and untuned instruments musically.
- Listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music.
- Make and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
Throughout Key Stage Two, pupils will build on their pre-existing Music knowledge as well as learn to:
- Play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using voice and playing instruments with increasing accuracy, control and expression.
- Improvise and compose music using the inter-related dimensions of music separately and in combination.
- Listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory.
- Use and understand the basics of the stave and other musical notations.
- Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music from different traditions and from great musicians and composers.
- Develop an understanding of the history of music.
Instrumental Enrichment
We have visiting Music specialists who deliver the music curriculum for Year 4 (recorders) and they have the opportunity to perform for the whole school. In addition, we have a specialist teacher from Rock Steady Music School who delivers lessons to 30 children in groups once a week. These groups learn and perform band instruments and sing to their parents and the whole school every term.
Class teachers deliver lessons of varying abilities for the Ukulele and Ocarina. There are several children who learn a range of instruments outside of school (clarinet, saxophone, piano/keyboard, flute and guitar) or are self-taught.
We encourage parents to support and inspire musical talents by encouraging children to listen, practise and appreciate music both within and outside of school.
In the future, your child could be a musician, teacher or producer so let’s nurture their talents!
Music Progression
SEND Information
Our SEND and disadvantaged pupils are given the necessary support in class to fully access the supported Music curriculum. Learning is adapted where necessary to support SEND/EAL pupils to give equal opportunities for all to be confident in approaching any problems faced. Interventions, support and challenges are constantly revised and adapted to ensure all children are supported in achieving learning. The above areas are robustly and continuously monitored to ensure any gaps in learning are addressed.