Music
The Intent, Implementation and Impact of Music at Victoria School
“Music is the universal language of mankind.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Intent
Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. As pupils progress, they should develop a critical engagement with music, allowing them to compose, and to listen with discrimination to the best in the musical canon. (The National Curriculum)
Music teaching at Victoria School aims to follow the specifications of the National Curriculum; providing a broad, balanced curriculum and ensuring the progressive development of musical concepts, knowledge and skills.
At Victoria we believe that music plays an integral role in helping children to feel part of a community, therefore we provide opportunities for all children to create, play, perform and enjoy music both in class and to an audience.
Through assemblies and key stage performances, children showcase their talent and their understanding of performing with awareness of others.
Lessons enable children to develop their skills, appreciate a wide variety of music and begin to appraise a range of musical genres.
The aims of our Music curriculum are to develop pupils who:
- Enjoy and have an appreciation for music.
- Listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres,
- Cultures, styles and traditions.
- Can sing and use their voices to create different effects.
- Create and compose music, both on their own and with others.
- Use a range of musical language.
- Make judgements and express personal preferences about the quality and style of music.
- Take part in performances with an awareness of audience.
Implementation
Music teaching at Victoria delivers the requirements of the National Curriculum through use of the Charanga scheme of work. Teachers follow the suggested scheme of work, although adaptations can be made using the ‘freestyle’ element of the package to substitute units deemed to be more appropriate for thematic learning in other curriculum areas.
Music lessons are broken down into half-termly units and an emphasis is placed on musical vocabulary, allowing children to talk about pieces of music using the correct terminology.
Each unit of work has an on-going musical learning focus and lessons usually follow a specific learning sequence:
- Listen and Appraise
- Musical Activities (including pulse and rhythm)
- Singing and Voice
- Playing instruments
- Improvisation / Composition
- Perform and Share
Our progression model also follows the same learning sequence to ensure all interrelated elements of music are covered and implemented.
Within the EYFS setting, music is an integral part of children’s learning journey. Rhyme and rhythm are utilised throughout the learning of phonics, handwriting and mathematics. Children
learn a wide range of songs and rhymes and develop skills for performing together. Singing and music making opportunities are used frequently to embed learning, develop musical awareness and to demonstrate how music can be used to express feelings. Children in Key Stage one and two benefit from whole class specialist teaching. These lessons allow children the opportunity to learn to play an instrument as part of an ensemble and to engender a love of music learning.
Throughout the sessions the interrelated elements of music are developed.
Performance is at the heart of musical teaching and learning at Victoria and pupils participate in a range of performances during their school.
These include nativities (KS1), Easter performances (Years 3 – 5) and a Leavers performance (Year 2 and 6). Pupils also take part in Harvest assemblies, church services and singing assemblies. Also Christmas carol services held in St Michaels Church. Pupils who are confident are encouraged to perform in solo performances. Parents are invited and welcomed to watch all of these performances whether at school or outside of school.
Alongside our curriculum provision for music, pupils also have the opportunity to participate in additional 1:1 music teaching by being offered the opportunity to learn a musical instrument with peripatetic teachers.
At Victoria we also recognise that staff have musical abilities that can be utilised to supplement our musical curriculum. Pupils in KS2 have had the opportunity to learn to play an instrument. Pupils also have the opportunity to join the school choir for key stage one and two and to participate in the annual Young Voices concert. at a range of events both in school and at other venues.
The Young Voices choir is extremely popular with KS2 pupils who are enthused by the opportunity to learn a wide range of songs, to be performed alongside other schools at the Manchester arena.
Impact
Our music Curriculum is planned to demonstrate progression and build on and embed
current skills. We focus on progression of knowledge and skills in the different musical
components and teaching of vocabulary also forms part of the units of work.
If children are achieving the knowledge and skills in lessons, then they are deemed to be making good or better progress.
We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:
Pupil discussions and interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice).
Governor monitoring with our subject music link governor.
Annual reporting and tracking of standards across the curriculum.
Photo and video evidence of the pupils practical learning.
Summer and Christmas Performances held in the Carnegie Theatre Workington
Use of the assessment tools provided within the Charanga scheme.
Dedicated music leader time.
The impact of our music curriculum is also measured in the uptake of our music after schoolclubs and uptake of additional music 1:1 teaching.
