What is Music?

Music is the exploration of rhythm, beat and melody, developed through singing, playing and listening to a wide variety of music. We develop an awareness of how music can change from different cultures and parts of history.

Intent, Implementation and impact

Curriculum intent

At John Blow Primary School, Music and the teaching of Music is the foundation of our curriculum and our school ethos. Our main aim is to ensure every single child develops an enjoyment of a variety of genres and understand the benefits of music.

Music at John Blow is imbedded daily, even out of lessons, and is at the cornerstone of the entire curriculum and at the heart of our school. It is embedded within all our assemblies and is taught in some year groups by specialists. We will strive for a high level of Music awareness, understanding and enjoyment for all children. Through using high-quality schemes such as Inspire Music, Singing Hub and Charanga, children are immersed in inclusive and open dialogue through the utilisation of the arts. As a result, we ensure new curriculum expectations, and the progression of objectives are met. This will not only enable them to become primary literate but will also develop deep listening and sharing skills.

At John Blow, our vision is for creativity to be at the helm of our Music curriculum and for children to learn new skills in a fun and engaging way.

Implementation

Our whole curriculum is shaped by our school vision which aims to enable all children, regardless of background, ability or additional needs, to flourish and become the very best version of themselves they can possibly be. We teach the National Curriculum, supported by a clear objectives and knowledge progression. This is reinforced by our links to other Singing Hub schools in the area, as well as expert delivery every Tuesday by an Inspire Music teacher. This ensures that vocabulary, enjoyment, objectives, skills and knowledge are built on year by year and sequenced appropriately to maximise learning for all children.

At John Blow Primary School:

• Music units are blocked to allow children to focus on developing their knowledge and skills, studying each unit in depth.

• We have developed a progression of objectives, with each year group, which enables pupils to build on and develop their skills each year. This is supported with specific vocabulary and objectives for each topic.

• In order to support children in their ability to know more and remember more, there are regular opportunities to review the learning that has taken place in previous year groups as well as previous lessons.

• To support teaching, staff access a range of resources using the Talking Points scheme at the helm, and reinforced through the utilisation of Inspire, Charanga, assemblies, our School Values which are displayed around the school.

• Medium term planning for units will cover previous learning and objectives.

• We plan for effective use of educational visits and visitors, to enrich and enhance the pupil’s learning experience and the Music curriculum.

• Teachers use highly effective Assessment for Learning at different points in each lesson to ensure misconceptions are highlighted and addressed.

• Effective modelling by teachers ensures that children are able to achieve their learning intentions, with misconceptions addressed within it.

• Through using a range of assessment tools, differentiation is facilitated by teachers, to ensure that each pupil can access the Music curriculum.

• Pupils are regularly given the opportunity for self or peer assessment, which will then be used to inform planning, preparation, differentiation and address misconceptions within that lesson, or for the next lesson.

• Cross-curricular links are planned for.

• Our Assessment Tracker (EAZMAG) allows us to use data to inform future practice.

Impact

Sustained learning and transferrable RSE skills. We aim that by the end of KS2 all of our children have made considerable progress from their starting points in EYFS. With the implementation of Inspire Music, all children can listen to music, to imbed singing and the enjoyment of Music in their daily routine and engage actively in a variety of music genres that enhance their cultural and historical awareness of this art form.

Our children also become more confident, fluent musicians as they realise the importance of how Music can impact their well being and unite them as a school.

As all aspects of RSE are an integral part of the curriculum, cross-curricular writing standards are improved and skills taught during Music lessons are transferred into other subjects. We hope that as children move on from us to further their education and learning through the skills acquired through the delivery of Music.