Music
We believe that through music and singing all learners can dwell in the moment of music and be given the opportunity to develop a lifelong passion for music. Music is for everyone.
Key Purpose & Core Values
Key Purpose of Music
- Develop a sense of belonging and resilience through composing, rehearsing, and performing music with others.
- Build skills, knowledge, and behaviors to provide a secure foundation in the subject.
- Encounter opportunities to develop relationships with ourselves, others, the world, and God & beyond.
- Promote happiness, support mental health, and nurture spirituality through music.
- Ensure all children have access to musical instruments and specialist music teachers.
Resilience, Belonging & Singing
- Listen & Appraise: Explore a wide variety of music styles and genres.
- Compose: Experience creating music and solving problems in a safe, supportive environment.
- Perform: Enjoy meaningful opportunities to perform to live audiences.
- Singing Culture: Express individual voices while uniting in mind, body, and spirit to embed community, mindfulness, and mental well-being.
Core Concept & Foundational Skills
Threshold Concept: Music is an intentional, organized language of sound.
Golden Threads & Foundational Skills Specific to Music
- Listen and Appraise
- Musical Activities (including pulse and rhythm)
- Singing and Voice
- Playing Instruments
- Improvisation / Composition
- Perform and Share
Practicing & Embedding Foundational Skills
| Area | Opportunities to Practise & Embed Secure Skills |
|---|---|
| Communication & Language (CLL) | • Listen Attentively: Develop a critical ear for pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, and structure. • Auditory Processing: Recognize musical patterns and process complex auditory structures. • Expression & Vocabulary: Express opinions and convey emotions using subject-specific terms (e.g., staccato, crescendo, rhythm, pitch). |
| Executive Function | • Sustained Attention: Maintain focus during instrument practice, group rehearsals, and engaged listening. • Multi-Step Instructions: Remember sequential steps, rhythm patterns, and score notations. • Goal Setting & Self-Regulation: Engage in deliberate practice to master pieces while managing performance emotions and collaboration. |
| Mathematics | • Pattern Recognition: Identify rhythmic patterns, tempo structures, and time signatures to support early mathematical pattern recognition. |
Progression: Early Years (Reception Outcomes)
Foundational Outcomes for Music (Early Learning Goals)
- Listening, Attention & Speaking: Listen attentively, respond with relevant actions/questions, and express ideas/feelings about experiences in full sentences.
- Personal, Social & Emotional: Try new activities with confidence, show perseverance during challenges, and work/play cooperatively by taking turns.
- Expressive Arts & Design: Sing well-known nursery rhymes and songs, perform stories/rhymes/poems with others, and move in time with music.
Curriculum Overview for Music
Developed from the National Curriculum & Charanga Scheme of Work
| Stage / Cycle | Autumn Term | Spring Term | Summer Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| KS1 A (2026/27) | Pulse, Rhythm and Pitch (Glockenspiels, Boomwhackers) & Christmas | Inventing a Musical Story (Ukuleles) | Having Fun with Improvisation |
| KS1 B (2027/28) | Dance, Sing and Play! & Christmas | Learning to Listen (Glockenspiel Music World Course) | Let’s Perform Together |
| LKS2 A (2026/27) | Writing Down Music & Christmas | Compose with Your Friends | Expression and Improvisation |
| LKS2 B (2027/28) | Playing in a Band & Christmas | Feelings through Music (Dragon Beats, Doods/Recorders, Boomwhackers) | The Show Must Go On / Battle of the Bands |
| UKS2 A (2026/27) | Melody and Harmony in Music & Christmas | Enjoying Musical Styles | Freedom to Improvise |
| UKS2 B (2027/28) | Developing Ensemble Skills & Christmas | Creative Composition (Underwater) | Farewell Tour |
Ensuring Inclusive Practice
Specific adaptations used to ensure accessibility and success for all in Music lessons.
| Broad Area of Need | Specific Barriers | Planned Adaptations |
|---|---|---|
| Communication & Interaction | • Expressive language • Receptive language • Social communication | • Non-verbal participation (gestures, instruments), graphic notation, call-and-response vocalizing. • Short instructions with visual cues, physical modeling, pre-taught vocabulary, and check-ins. • Defined physical seating boundaries, visual rules for turn-taking, and solo/paired options. |
| Cognition & Learning | • Working memory • Dyscalculia • Executive functioning • Dyslexia / Literacy • Aphantasia | • Chunked patterns (2–4 beats), color-coded note charts, visual reference strips. • Rhythm grids/blocks instead of fractions, tactile counting aids, sound-word associations (“tea-cof-fee”). • Step-by-step visual checklists, transition timers, clear group roles. • Large-font lyrics on colored paper, double spacing, graphic/pictorial scores. • Concrete visual stimuli (pictures/videos), physical textures, and structured emotional prompts. |
| Sensory & Physical | • Visual Impairment (VI) • Hearing Impairment (HI) • Sensory Overload (Autism/SPD) • Fine Motor Coordination | • Tactile/Braille music notation, enlarged high-contrast scores, teacher proximity, verbal descriptions. • Seating optimized for good-ear position, physical vibration reliance (drums/speakers), clear sightlines. • Ear defenders, volume-controlled alternative instruments (headphone keyboards), quiet spaces. • Adaptive beater grips, larger percussion instruments (ocean drums, bass bars), extra practice time. |
| SEMH | • Anxiety & Perfectionism • Impulse control | • Validating non-pitched/exploratory sounds, private recording options, trusted buddy pairs. • “Resting positions” for beaters, pre-lesson sound exploration time, visual start/stop cues, fiddle objects. |