Our Music curriculum engages and inspires pupils to develop a love of music and allows them to grow and explore their talents as young inspiring musicians. Through the curriculum, children can build further on their self confidence and creativity, leading to a strong sense of achievement through the art of music. Through their learning journey in music, children will acquire tacit, procedural and declarative knowledge.Pupils will gain opportunity to approach music critically, listening and appraising with refined discrimination, eveloping a wide and varied understanding of music, and accessing a progressive development of musical concepts, knowledge and technical skills. By building an understanding of the inter related dimensions of music, pupils will master a clear understanding of music from its creation through to its communication, with the chance to explore, experiment, improvise and compose.
Our Music curriculum seeks to develop pupils across three pillars that interrelate to musicianship. The first pillar is the 'technical' development necessary for pupils to translate their intentions successfully into sound. This will often involve instrumental playing or singing but, if the resources are available, may also focus on music technology. The second pillar is the 'constructive' pillar. This refers to knowledge of how musical components come together both analytically and in the creative process. The third pillar, the 'expressive' pillar, is focused on the more indefinable aspects of music: quality, meaning and creativity.
We believe our Music curriculum supports and furthers our mission to uphold a true sense of community, with ample opportunity to create, perform, play and simply enjoy music together with peers, staff and family. This also allows children to develop a deeper awareness of others through performance and practised talent can be celebrated and shared as musical excellence.
Within the Three Saints Academy Trust, the Music curriculum is taught through the use of the Charanga scheme of work alongside subject specialists from St.Helens Music Education Hub. Supported by music specialists, staff deliver half termly units that teach and build upon learned musical vocabulary and skills and provide time to rehearse techniques as soloists and ensembles.
Music sessions commence with listening and appraising, providing time to explore a wide range of music and for children to express their thoughts and feelings about pieces using music terminology, developing their tacit and declarative knowledge. All pupils are taught to use their voices with expression. Teachers focus on accuracy, fluency and control through singing to cultivate confidence using a 'main song' within each unit that children revisit each session. New supporting songs are introduced each week and these pieces are all used to construct knowledge of the inter related dimensions such as pitch, tempo, texture, timbre and structure. Progressive games are incorporated into every session as engaging and fun methods of embedding key concepts and practically experiencing elements of music such as rhythm and pulse. Pupils improvise and compose with their voices and instruments, such as brass instruments, percussion and recorders, connecting this learning to transcription at an appropriate level. Ample opportunity for sharing performance is built into the curriculum, honing the procedural musical knowledge.
Children from Year 4 to Year 6 benefit from specialist teaching from the St.Helens Music Education Hub, and are afforded the opportunity to learn a musical instrument through the whole class instrumental learning programme. Each child receives an instrument during these years that they are able to take home and practice to support in school learning. This further engenders their love for music through technical skill development, such as using musical notation, frequent opportunity to perform and demand for careful listening to increase aural memory. The music education hub specialists also offer some extra curricular sessions to tutor children further in both playing and music theory and direct families to further provision to allow our young musicians to thrive.
An annual Music Appreciation Day is held within our schools and a focus or theme is selected to build children's understanding, broaden their
experiences of music from different cultures and traditions, and explore the history of music.
The aim of our Music curriculum is for all pupils to demonstrate progression in the key areas:
Children should be confident and courageous musicians who can speak with passion about a variety of musical styles and choices, embracing diversity and creativity.
As a result of the overall curriculum design, including mapping of key concepts, knowledge, skills and end points, as well as through the enhancement of the curriculum with specialist teachers, our annual Music Appreciation Day and frequent opportunity for performances such as class assemblies, church worship and class/key stage shows, pupils make outstanding progress over time across the key stages, relative to their individual starting point. Children are expected to leave our school reaching at least age related expectations for Music and with the ability to play a musical instrument to a degree of competency.
The impact of the Music curriculum is evidenced in a range of ways, including pupil voice, lesson visits, floor books, audio recordings, written reflections and termly assessment analysis using the Charanga scheme.
Within Music, pupils will develop a deep understanding of key concepts. These key concepts have been carefully considered and identified as the core knowledge, skills and confidence to develop a love for music and allow them to grow and explore their talents as young inspiring musicians. The Key concepts are interwoven throughout the learning journey as the pupils move through the school to ensure the knowledge, skills and confidence are firmly embedded.
