Music

Intent

The National Curriculum for music aims to ensure that all children:

• perform, listen to, review and evaluate music
• be taught to sing, create and compose music
• understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated

At Monks Risborough CE Primary School, children gain a firm understanding of what music is through listening, singing, playing, evaluating, analysing, and composing across a wide variety of historical periods, styles, traditions, and musical genres. 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

The music curriculum ensures children sing, listen, play, perform and evaluate. This is embedded in the classroom through the structured music programme Music Express as well as the weekly singing assemblies, various concerts and performances, musical clubs, links with St Dunstan’s Church and instrumental teaching from specialist music teachers. 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 cross-curricular links. 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.

Music in EYFS is also taught through the Music Express scheme, in addition to other forms of music for songs and movement linking with the seven Areas of Development during continuous provision.

Impact

Whilst in school, children have access to a varied programme, which allows them to discover areas of strength, as well as areas they might like to improve upon. There are opportunities to join extra curricular choirs and our Minstrels orchestra. Concerts both at school and within the community are attended by a wide range of children, as well as joining in with family services at St Dunstan’s  Church. The integral nature of music and the learner creates an enormously rich palette from which a child may access fundamental abilities such as: achievement, self- confidence, interaction with and awareness of others, and self-reflection.