Music

Intent – What do we want children to learn?

The National Curriculum states that all children should receive a high-quality music education and at Waldringfield and Hollesley Primaries, we believe music should engage and inspire pupils to develop a love of music and their talent as musicians, increasing their self-confidence, creativity and sense of achievement. In order to achieve this they will…

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.

Implementation – How are we going to achieve our intent?

The children in KS1 begin learning basic skills and techniques which include:

using their voices expressively and creatively by singing songs and speaking chants and rhymes
playing tuned and untuned instruments musically
listening with concentration and understanding to a range of high-quality live and recorded music
experimenting with, create, select and combine sounds using the inter-related dimensions of music.

In KS2 the children begin to implement those skills and are 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, taking part in productions, public events and special occasions.

Impact – What will it look like when we have achieved our intent?

It will be evident over time that the progress, knowledge and skills of pupils will increase between EYFS and Year 6. When planning, teachers refer to the Long Term Plan which ensures progression across the school. Impact will be assessed through a multi-faceted approach including performances, informal observations in lessons, opportunities through practical music-making, listening to children talking and playing, and watching children respond. Evidence is built up by means of sound and video recordings taken at the beginning and end of units, or when there is something significant to note.

Hollesley School has a proud tradition of involvement in music, confirming its place in the broad and balanced curriculum of the school.

All children have a singing-session each week and their enthusiasm for it shows as they often sing in concerts in school or, for example, with the WI and at BT, Martlesham.

From Year 4 children are offered trumpet-lessons as part of their curriculum-music and this can lead to other brass-instruments being taught (euphonium, trombone etc).

Clubs in school or after-school include recorder, singing, trumpet (and private piano-lessons).

The school seizes every opportunity to showcase the children’s musical skills:

for 5 of the last 8 years the trumpets have been included in the prestigious “Celebration of Schools’ Music” at Snape Concert Hall,
as part of the BBC’s 10 Pieces project children played brass and pitched percussion, again at Snape,
the Trumpet Club is often asked to play at summer fairs, carol concerts and so on,
unusually, trumpets have even played on Aldeburgh beach,
each year the older children have the chance to sing with other schools in the Farlingaye High School choral concert