Music
Our Music curriculum encourages our pupils enjoy singing, composing, and performing music. It provides a variety of musical experiences that develop our pupils’ ability to sing in tune, understand rhythm and follow a beat. Through singing songs, our pupils learn about the structure and organisation of music. Throughout the curriculum, pupils listen to a wide variety of musical genres such as classical composers such as Mozart and Beethoven, jazz and ragtime pianist Scott Joplin, the film scores of John Williams and English folk songs. Pupils learn to appreciate different forms of music, studying the work of both significant musical figures in history and modern-day musicians. Pupils learn musical vocabulary such as volume, pitch, beat and rhythm and use these to discuss music.
Singing and listening to music and rhyme is an essential part of our early years’ curriculum. Pupils are introduced to pulse and rhythm and begin to recognise this in familiar songs and rhymes. In Key Stage 1, pupils then explore the basic principles of rhythm, pulse and melody. In Key Stage 2, pupils will learn to play the ukulele. Throughout the curriculum, pupils compose pieces of music based on the works of different composers from Tchaikovsky’s waltzes and Handel’s music for the Royal Fireworks to Steve Reich’s Minimalist music and the soundtracks from different films using a range of percussion instruments.
Music is taught for an hour each week by a specialist music teacher.
Each year group 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 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.
From year 2, pupils can have peripatetic music lessons in piano, guitar and violin.
