Music

MUSIC at Westfield Primary School

At Westfield we follow the National Curriculum for music at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

‘Music is a universal language that embodies one of the highest forms of creativity. A high quality music education should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians and so increase their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. 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’. (National Curriculum)

By the end of each key stage, pupils are expected to know, apply and understand the matters, skills and processes specified in the relevant programme of study. At Westfield, we want pupils to listen to and review music from a range of times and cultures, learn to sing to use their voices to create and compose and to explore how music is created and communicated using pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and notation using both tuned and untuned instruments.

Subject content

Key Stage 1 Pupils should be taught to:

• use their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes

 • play tuned and untuned instruments musically

• listen with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music

• experiment with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

Key stage 2 Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.

Pupils should be taught to:

• play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression

• improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the inter-related dimensions of music

• listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory

• use and understand staff and other musical notations

• appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians

• develop an understanding of the history of music.

We recognise that progression and cohesion in the teaching and learning of music needs to flow effectively from EYFS to Year 6. The EYFS at Westfield follow the ‘Early Years Statuary Framework for the Early Years and Foundation Stage’ (DfES, 2014) ‘Communication and Language’ is a prime area through which, as a foundation of pupils’ learning, music is taught. ‘Expressive Arts and Design’ is the specific area in which pupils are introduced to music skills and knowledge.

Independence

We want all children to be able to play instruments independently, and gain an understanding of what makes music, music!

Individuality

Children should be able to express their individuality through their creation and playing of music.

Inquisitive

We believe that children should be able to experiment with their own music creation, and wonder what certain instruments and notes would sound like together.

At Westfield we have chosen to use the published scheme by Kapow. Kapow is a scheme of work which offers a topic-based approach to support children’s learning in music. A steady progression plan has been built into Kapow, both within each year and from one year to the next, ensuring consistent musical development. We use Kapow as the basis of our scheme of work, so that we can ensure that we are fulfilling the aims for musical learning stated in the National curriculum.

Kapow was selected because it includes many examples of music styles and genres from different times and places. These are explored through the language of music by active listening, performing and composing activities, which enable understanding of the context and genre.

Kapow implements a classroom based participatory and inclusive approach to music learning. In the scheme, children are actively involved in using and developing their singing voices, using body percussion and whole body actions and learning to handle and play classroom instruments effectively to create and express their own and others’ music. Using a range of whole class, group and individual activities, children have opportunities to explore sounds, listen actively, compose and perform.

Impact

The National Curriculum for Music progresses year on year, giving pupils the skills and knowledge that they need to move forward in their learning, alongside opportunities to apply skills to different situations. When children keep up with the curriculum, they are considered to be making expected progress and to have achieved the expected standard for their year group. We give each pupil at Westfield the opportunity to not only strive to achieve academic excellence, but also to recognise and develop their individual talents and become the best person that they can be. With this in mind, we hope that pupils are inspired and enthused by the music curriculum and will take as interest in the subject with them into the next stage of their education and their lives as adults.