Townfield Primary School
Music
Music Intent
At Townfield Primary School, we follow the statutory content of the National Curriculum for Music, adapting it to meet the needs of our pupils. We use the Charanga music scheme as the basis of our music provision. This scheme builds up skills carefully, ensuring progression as children move through the school. We are committed to delivering exciting lessons, which engage all our pupils.
We believe that music is an essential part of life, integral in the development of a person. We believe that the opportunity to engage in musical experiences is therefore crucial for the development of the ‘whole child’. Indeed, learning music promotes all aspects of a child’s development - from the motor skills needed to play an instrument, to the mathematical skills needed to keep a pulse; from the listening skills needed when evaluating music, to the social skills needed when performing as part of an ensemble. We therefore ensure that all pupils engage in music, including those who have SEN and/or disabilities, and those who are disadvantaged.
At our school, children have access to music through weekly lessons, as well as other enrichment opportunities, such as peripatetic music lessons, school clubs and performances in the local community. Furthermore, to enrich their ‘cultural capital’, pupils in upper KS2 visit a live orchestral performance at the Liverpool Philharmonic.
In lessons, we focus on the skills of listening, evaluating, singing, playing, improvising, composing and performing. Children develop confidence and become more adept at working effectively with others, sharing their ideas, negotiating and finding creative solutions. Knowledge and skills are constantly revisited and refreshed to ensure that they become embedded. To support them in this, we prioritise the teaching and practising of key subject vocabulary.
We have created end points for each topic and milestones for the end of each year to show what pupils should know and should be able to do. These are assessed at the end of each unit. As the children revisit each strand of learning, either in the same year or in subsequent years, their teachers will know what prior learning should have taken place. These milestones have been created to ensure a meaningful progression of skills across the school.
The skills involved in playing and listening to music also help learners develop the self-esteem, self-discipline and creativity necessary for success in life more generally. Furthermore, the many opportunities children are given to listen to music in school help improve their emotional well-being. We endeavour to present children with music from a wide range of musical genres. The different cultural heritages within the school are celebrated as the children learn songs in different languages and from different cultures. All this supports the teaching of our core values of respect, responsibility and resilience.
Autumn 2020
Some photos of Year 5 children learning to play the glockenspiel.
