Music
Our knowledge-rich music curriculum develops musical knowledge through knowing how to make music, knowing musical practices with critical insight and knowing how music enriches the inner life. Our music curriculum develops our pupils’ musical knowledge through singing, listening, composing (including improvising) and performing. These musical practices are woven throughout the curriculum and are carefully sequenced so that pupils can build procedural knowledge and technical skills.
The aim of our curriculum is that pupils will begin to understand the language of music. Therefore, each unit has a musical focus, such as pulse, rhythm, tempo, pitch, timbre, dynamics, form/structure, texture or harmony or a combination of these. These are sometimes called the elements of music. Pupils may explore how music is constructed using the elements of music by listening analytically or using them as components to build their own compositions.
Pupils explore different pieces and genres of music as examples of the different musical focus in each unit. As the different elements of music do not exist in isolation from each other, each unit will have a primary musical focus with other elements highlighted to develop the children's musical understanding.
Exploring different genres of music throughout the curriculum introduces the pupils to a wonderfully diverse story of music and build pupil’s declarative knowledge of musical culture and history. Pieces are drawn from all over the world and from periods spanning seven centuries. Their increasing cultural contextual understanding is further enhanced by learning about music which relates to other areas of the curriculum. In general, where there is a connection between another a topic studied in history, art or geography and a musical piece, the music is introduced after the relevant topic has been studied. For example, in year 5 the children learn about African-American spirituals in the term after learning about the transatlantic slave trade in history.
Music is taught for an hour each week by a specialist music teacher. Each term, each year group will also have whole class instrumental lessons through the Tri borough Music Hub:
Year 1: Rastamouse
Year 2: Fiddles, sticks & songs
Year 3: Ukueles, sticks and songs
Year 4: Recorders, sticks and songs
Year 5: Fifths 1
Year 6: Fifths 2
Alongside our music curriculum, each year group also perform a melody of Christmas songs for their parents and carers at the end of Michaelmas term and music is a key part of each class assembly. Pupils also participate in singing assemblies across their phase. At the end of Year 6, our pupils put together an end of year production that showcases their musical talents, skills, and knowledge. There are also opportunities to participate in school choirs in Year 3 and Year 6. Our Year 6 choir has performed at the Young Voices event for the past two years. Furthermore, our year 5 and year 6 pupils have had the opportunity to attend musical productions both at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith and at local schools.
From year 2, pupils can have peripatetic music lessons in piano, flute, guitar and violin.
