Intent

At Quadring Cowley and Brown’s Primary School, our music curriculum intends to inspire creativity, self-expression and encourages our children on their musical journeys as well as giving them opportunities to connect with others.  We hope to foster a life long love of music by exposing them to diverse musical experiences and igniting a passion for music. By listening and responding to different musical styles, finding their voices as singers, performers and as composers, as well as analysing and evaluating a wide variety of historical periods, traditions and musical genres, all will enable them to become confident, reflective musicians.

We are committed to developing a curiosity for the subject, as well as an understanding and acceptance of the validity and importance of all types of music, and an unbiased respect for the role that music may wish to be expressed in any person’s life. We are committed to ensuring children understand the value and importance of music in the wider community and are able to use their musical skills, knowledge, and experiences to involve themselves in music, in a variety of different contexts.

Implementation

Our music curriculum ensures children to sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom through the structured music programme Music Express as well as the fortnightly singing assemblies, various concerts and performances, musical clubs such as Young Voices, and teaching from specialist music teachers for children wishing to focus on a specific instrument.  The elements of music are taught in the classroom lessons so that children are able to use some of the language of music to dissect it, and understand how it is made, played, appreciated and analysed. In the classroom children learn key aspects of music through both discrete teaching and through cross-curricular links with the bi-annual topics being taught.  They also learn how to compose, focusing on different dimensions of music, which in turn feeds their understanding when listening, playing, or analysing music. Composing or performing using body percussion and vocal sounds is also part of the curriculum, which develops the understanding of musical elements without the added complexity of an instrument.

Impact

Whilst in school, children have opportunities to forge their own musical journey, which allows them to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich foundation from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self-confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection. Music will also develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to students individually, as well as ethnicities from across the world. Children are able to enjoy music, in as many ways as they choose - either as listener, creator or performer. They can discuss music and comprehend its parts. They can sing, feel a pulse, add rhythms and create melodies in a group and they can further develop these skills in the future and continue to enjoy and embrace music in their lives.

At Quadring Primary School, our Music curriculum will foster a love and increasing enthusiasm and appreciation of music amongst our children, and a potential for life- long musical study. Children will leave our school thinking, feeling, and performing like ‘musicians.’