Music
Intent
At West Bretton School, we believe there is music in every child that is to be discovered and nurtured. We are committed to providing our pupils with the quality curriculum and experiences to foster their love of music, to help them fulfil their potential as a musician, and to increase their self-confidence. We believe that music creates connections between the wider community; it provides opportunities to perform; it helps learners to form an appreciation of different cultures; it creates an outlet and an opportunity to express emotions and individuality when words may be a barrier; and it teaches transferable skills which can be applied to pupils’ ability to learn across the wider curriculum.
Implementation
At our school, we have adopted the scheme Charanga to support and improve the quality of music teaching that children receive at our school. As we have mixed-age classes, we follow a two-year rolling programme. The music learning is taught this way from EYFS up to Year 4. We feel that Charanga works seamlessly with the national curriculum ensuring that learners revisit the interrelated dimensions of music; tempo, timbre, texture, pulse, dynamics, pitch and rhythm- while building upon previous learning and skills. Music is taught in weekly lessons, which range from 30 minutes in EYFS and Key Stage 1, up to 1 hour in Key Stage 2. These lessons provide children with the opportunity to listen and respond to different styles of music, to have a go at composing their own pieces and to record their compositions so that they can evaluate their own and others’ work. Charanga also provides sheet music for the songs in each unit, which means we can encourage children who play instruments outside of the classroom to play their instrument as an ensemble in class.
In Class 4 (Year 5 and 6), music is taught through the Wakefield Music Service where they learn an instrument, such as the ukulele. In addition to this, many children across Key Stage 2 take up weekly piano or guitar lessons in school, which are also delivered by the Wakefield Music Service.
In Class 3 (Year 3 and 4), the children take part in a trip to Young Voices. As part of their music lessons and throughout the year, the children rehearse the songs that they will sing alongside other schools and famous artists in a sold-out arena. This opportunity provides the children with a huge sense of achievement and the experience of working in a team to deliver a memorable performance. Young Voices provide online resources so that children can practise at home to support the rehearsals they are doing in school. Their songs are selected from a wide range of music styles to give the children the widest learning experience possible.
On a Wednesday, we have a whole-school singing assembly. During this time, we focus on developing the children’s musicality and we learn songs for events which take place throughout the year. As well as this, four children from Class 4 are selected to be music ambassadors where they set up the music and the hall for assemblies. They lead warm-ups in singing assembly and they take suggestions as to what songs pupils would be interested in singing during assemblies. We feel that this encourages as many children as possible to engage in music.
Throughout the wider curriculum, music is regularly incorporated as a method to support our pupils when learning information, such as the months of the year, times tables or learning French vocabulary, to name a few. We use music as a tool to help create a calming environment and also to promote movement in the classroom.
Impact
Our connections to our community are strengthened through the opportunities we create through music at our school. The children have opportunities to perform to our community numerous times throughout the year, including at Harvest, Christmas and at parent assemblies based on our topic learning. Through music, our pupils are able to develop an understanding of culture and history, both in relation to children individually, as well as other cultures from across the world. Our pupils are able to enjoy music in as many ways as they choose – either as a listener, creator or performer. Our pupils are able to record their performances and evaluate their compositions to help them improve. Our pupils are confident when discussing and sharing their own thoughts, opinions and ideas, while acknowledging and respecting that these may vary from others.
