Flying High in Music at St Helen’s

Please note this is currently being reviewed, evaluated and re-written.

Intent at St Helen's 

Here at St. Helen’s, it is our aim to provide children with an enjoyable and challenging music curriculum which gives all pupils the opportunity to play a range of instruments, sing and perform individually as well as with peers. We believe that music is a route to personal expression that can inspire and motivate. This can be achieved through exploration, composition and performance.

At St. Helen’s, we want to give our children every opportunity to appraise and perform music. We are a singing school. We provide pupils with rich musical experiences to promote wellbeing and highlight each child’s integral part in our school community. We explore musicianship through singing assemblies, instrument tuition, and clubs as well as participating in organised musical events within the local community and further afield.

Implementation

Music is taught through the musical programme Charanga, which enables all children to access the musical curriculum in a fun and engaging manner. The programme is designed specifically with the opportunity for all pupils to review, remember, deepen and apply their understanding.

We focus on developing a deep understanding of 7 elements of music: dynamics, tempo, duration, structure, texture and timbre. These are the building blocks of music and therefore run throughout our scheme of work as an overarching strand.

Impact

Children have plenty of opportunities throughout the teaching cycle to express their views on the composers and pieces they hear. Children reflect on the structural parts of the music. They can sing, improve and feel a pulse.

At the end of every term, teachers will assess the children against the objectives which have been covered in that term. They will base their assessments on each lesson, evidence and recordings made, as well as check-ins throughout lessons.

At St. Helen’s, we view the purpose of assessment as being able to help pupils progress, to make our teaching better and to provide continuity of learning between year groups.

Music Two Year Cycle Connected Curriculum Overviews:

Charanga Music Scheme is used to ensure that the children have a range of musical opportunities through the coverage of the national curriculum objectives.

Aims The national curriculum for music aims to ensure that all pupils: perform, listen to, review and evaluate music across a range of historical periods, genres, styles and traditions, including the works of the great composers and musicians learn to sing and to use their voices, to create and compose music on their own and with others, have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument, use technology appropriately and have the opportunity to progress to the next level of musical excellence, understand and explore how music is created, produced and communicated, including through the inter-related dimensions: pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture, structure and appropriate musical notations.

Music Curriculum at St Helen's Scheme of Work