Subject Leader – Ms Lilley
At Easington C of E Primary School, we teach Music from Reception to Year 6 in partnership with Charanga Online Music School and The Durham Music Service aligned with our whole school vision at its forefront:
“May we give them the roots to grow and the wings to fly.”
Through this vision, Easington C of E Primary School children are given a strong foundation (roots) to their musical education. Interrelated dimensions of music weave through teaching to encourage the development of musical skills. As the learning progresses through listening and appraising, differing musical activities (including creating and exploring) and performing the children are then fully prepared for the next steps in their educational journey (wings to fly).
Easington C of E Music Curriculum Offer in partnership with Charanga Online Music School
At Easington C of E Primary School, we aim for all of our wonderful children to develop the roots to grow and the wings to fly. Through Music, children will have the wings to fly by developing the confidence and independence to:
EARLY LEARNING GOALS
The level of development that the reception children at Easington C of E should be expected to have reached by the end of the EYFS is defined by the early learning goal (ELGs) for Being Imaginative and Expressive as set out below.
RECEPTION
ELG: Being Imaginative and Expressive
Children at the expected level of development will:
MUSIC – KEY STAGES 1 & 2
Aims
The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils:
By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study.
Subject Content
Key stage 1
Pupils should be taught to:
• use their voices expressively and creatively 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
• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.
Key stage 2
Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
Pupils should be taught to:
• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical
• instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
• improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related
• dimensions of music
• listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
• use and understand staff and other musical notations
• appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn
• from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
• develop an understanding of the history of music.
Teaching and learning time:
We follow the online music scheme, Charanga – Durham Music Service. This scheme from reception through to year 6 allows for the interrelated dimensions of music to weave through musical units and encourage the development of musical knowledge and skills. Children build their knowledge and capabilities of listening and appraising, understanding different musical activities and performance.
At the beginning of each unit, children have the opportunity to demonstrate prior knowledge including connected knowledge. We teach a balanced curriculum that is sequenced appropriately in order to build on and develop the knowledge and skills required to secure children’s ability and understanding of music. Children have opportunities to recall their musical knowledge and skills and demonstrate their abilities through performance.
Substantive and disciplinary knowledge in music
Substantive knowledge in music is based on the developing knowledge of the nine interrelated dimensions of music. All musical learning is built around the interrelated dimensions of music.
Interrelated Dimensions of Music
| 1. Pulse | 4. Tempo | 7. Texture |
| 2. Rhythm | 5. Dynamics | 8. Structure |
| 3. Pitch | 6. Timbre | 9. Notation |
Focuses on developing children’s skills and knowledge required for them to develop as musicians. This
is achieved through deliberate practice and allows children to develop and demonstrate fluency of knowledge. It involves learning about music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and
traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians.
In music is the interpretation on the interrelated dimensions of music and how this knowledge is used
when singing, playing instruments, improvising and composing, to develop creative and original pieces and performances. Children work independently and collaboratively to interpret and combine the dimensions of music to create a specific and desired effect.
Creativity in music
“Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high-quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement.” National Curriculum, 2013
Music is a highly creative subject where children develop their own musical ideas. Creativity in music is encouraged through children’s improvisations and compositions when singing and playing instruments. They make connections between ‘new’ and ‘old’ learning, solve problems and think critically to develop and improve their ideas.
At Easington C of E reception children are given the opportunity to play untuned instruments progressively throughout the year. In addition to our Online music scheme Key stage 1 children have
the opportunity to be part of the ‘Little Fingers’ programme delivered by Durham Music Service during the Autumn term which prepares children to be ready to play tuned instruments in Key Stage 2.
In Key stage 2 Children then go on to be part of whole class musical instrument tuition learning to play the recorder in partnership with Durham Music Service. Children are then offered small group instrument tuition giving them the opportunity to learn to play a variety of instruments from Clarinet, Saxophone to flute.
School Choir is offered as part of school’s enrichment clubs programme including reception children through to Year 6.
We are proud of school’s achievements regarding performing in the community ranging from local Residential Care Home Choir Concerts, Beamish band stand performances, Easington’s Got Talent Show, School Choir Christmas Performance and schools Early Years Nativity Performance.
We also welcome bands and actors into school to perform such as Easington Colliery Band, Back to Brass, a variety of local Pantomime Companies and Big Foot Productions.
School also works in partnership with the local Secondary Academy enabling Year 6 children to work over 4 sessions with talented Key Stage 3 pupils on a variety of musical programmes.
Assessment in music
Each unit of music has an ongoing musical learning focus and a unit specific focus from Reception to Year 6.
Ongoing musical learning includes building on children’s prior knowledge to develop new knowledge about how they can improve their skills in listening and appraising and musical activities such as games, singing, playing, improvising and composing, and performing. In reception we will always aim to build on children’s developmental needs and prior musical knowledge gained from their previous settings. This will ensure a continued progression within the ‘Expressive Arts’ area of learning as set out in the Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage.
Unit specific knowledge focuses on musical skills and concepts that may be discrete to a particular style or styles of music relevant to the unit.
During music lessons assessments are made focusing on the content and performance involving qualitative verbal feedback at the teacher’s discretion notes may be made at the bottom of Charanga’s ‘One page lesson planning sheet’. Collective worships, concerts, community participation and classroom learning can be digitally recorded when appropriate, uploaded and stored as digital evidence. Impact will be reviewed at the end of each academic year through discussion with the class teacher.
In addition, by following our music curriculum, from Reception to the end of Key Stage 2, our children will have developed a deep knowledge and understanding of music in their long-term memory. This will provide them with the foundation needed for a successful transition into the next stage of their education.
References
Durham Music Service – Primary Music Curriculum and Progress map
National Curriculum – Music Programmes of Study: Key stage 1 and 2
Charanga Online Music School – Scheme Overview and documentation
Askwith Primary School – North Yorkshire
